The Lonely Mountain [1]

The Unexpected Party

As night time rolled in, Bilbo prepared his supper of fried fish and as he sat down to eat, he was completely oblivious to the symbol Gandalf had drawn on his door that began to glow blue as a figure approached.

Bilbo, in the middle of squeezing lemon onto his fish, looked up in surprise as his doorbell rang. Confused, he got up to answer it. He didn't know who it could be as, to his knowledge, he hadn't invited anyone around. He opened the door to reveal a tall, (at least to a hobbit like himself) bald dwarf.

"Dwalin, at your service." The dwarf introduced himself.

Shell-shocked, Bilbo let out a noise much like a whimper before coming to his senses and quickly tying his robe tighter. "Bilbo Baggins, at yours." Bilbo introduced, standing taller, as Dwalin walked inside without an invitation. "Um, do we know each other?" Bilbo asked.

"No. Which way, laddie? Is it down here?" Dwalin asked looking around the hobbit hole.

"Is what down where?" Bilbo asked as Dwalin dropped his bags onto the floor and then handed his weapons to the annoyed looking hobbit.

"Supper. He said there'd be food, and lots of it." Dwalin muttered as he walked through the house and into the kitchen.

"H-He said? Who said?" Bilbo asked following the dwarf into his kitchen.

Dwalin sat down at the table and began to eat Bilbo's dinner. Bilbo walked in still confused to why the large dwarf was in his house. Dwalin quickly ate all the flesh off the fish and then proceeded to eat the head as Bilbo looked on in disgust at the dwarf's appalling manners.

"Very good, this. Anymore?" Dwalin asked.

"What? Oh - Y-yes...help yourself." Bilbo stammered as he brought the dwarf a plate of scones, but not before hurriedly hiding one behind his back for himself. Dwalin quickly began stuffing them into his mouth, still starving from his long journey.

"It's just that, um, I wasn't expecting company." Bilbo told the dwarf nervously before looking up again in alarm as the doorbell rang again.

"That'll be the door." Dwalin said, looking at the peculiar little man he had just met.

Bilbo hurried to open the door to find himself face to face with an old, white haired and bearded dwarf.

"Balin, at your service." The dwarf introduced himself with a bow.

"Good evening." Bilbo said, feeling even more confused than before.

Balin saw Dwalin and went to greet him. Bilbo sighed to himself as the doorbell rang again, just as the two current dwarves were raiding his pantry. He opened the door and groaned when he came face to face with two much younger dwarves.

"Fili." The light haired one with a beard introduced himself.

"And Kili." The dark haired beardless one introduced.

"At your service." They both said at the same time bowing.

"You must be Mr. Boggins." Kili said with a smile.

"Nope, you can't come in; you've come to the wrong house." Bilbo said trying to close the door. But Kili stuck out his foot and stopped the door closing.

Kili's face dropped. "What? Has it been cancelled?"

"No one told us." Fili said, his expression matching that of his brothers.

"Can-? Nothing's been cancelled." Bilbo told the two dwarves and their faces lit up.

"Well, that's a relief." Kili said as the two pushed their way past a vexed looking hobbit.