Chapter 1- Introductions

Kira walked along the riverbank listening to quiet bubbling of the water. It was a sunny day in the land called the Shire, though Kira didn't know just yet that she'd entered it. Kira was from south of the Shire, you see, from the forest by the ocean. She'd been walking along the river for several days now in search of the permanent settlements she knew existed in the North.

Kira was approximately three and a half feet tall, which was average height for the Southern Nomads, as Northerners would soon refer to them as. She did not refer to herself by this marked name, for it is the norm to travel with the seasons in her home. She had long raven black hair that she'd braided into many intricate braids that looped around her temples and fell down her back. Her skin was dark as compared to the peoples of the shire, and her eyes were of a deep golden color. She was dressed in simple black travelers' pants, a loosely fitting white shirt, and a pair of short worn leather boots. She had a spare dress in her pack in case the occasion arose. After all, she'd never left the forest before and had no idea what Northerners were really like.

She was enjoying the sunlight immensely. Though she'd grown up mostly in the shade of the tall trees of her home, she welcomed the summer warmth. Every sensation was a new miniature adventure in itself: the breeze, the thinner air, and the flora each caught her interest individually and nourished her curiosity. As the days wore on, however, she quickly lost interest.

The quiet bubbling of the river had this way of catching her attention and loosing her in her thoughts. Eventually, it steered her where she was avoiding entirely: to her mother. She'd left her mother back in the forest when she decided to go on this little adventure to the North. It was not out of malice that she'd done so, but out of exasperation. She had a complicated history with her mother, as her mother was a complicated person, the details of which are for another time. For now, know Kira had a good reason to leave, as she understood it now. She won't agree with herself later.

Kira was beginning to wonder how far she'd gone down the river when she finally spotted a few buildings off in the distance. An excitement grew in her, like butterflies and bees fighting in her stomach. This was her chance! She would find her alternative life, as long as she played her cards right.

"Ortheri'ala," she muttered to herself.

She looked down to inspect her clothing. She didn't look too bad, surprisingly. Her boots were scuffed, but her clothing didn't look dirty. She sniffed her underarm and scrunched up her nose. She decided that she should bathe now before she drew any closer to the houses. Kira quickly found an area of the river that was around a bend with cover from a bush. She ducked behind the shrubbery and stripped down.

Kira hummed a silly little children's song as she splashed the cool water all over her skin. The tune fit the rhythm of the river rather well. Once her skin had acclimated to the cold water, she plunged her face beneath the surface and blew a stream of bubbles. Her braids pulled her head back as she broke the water surface again to re-emerge. She took in a deep gasp of air and opened her eyes.

Feeling refreshed, she hopped out of the river and squeezed the water from her hair. Kira got dressed and continued on her path following the river. She absent-mindedly undid and redid her braids and she sauntered on.

After her days and hours of travel, she was approaching new settlements. She straightened up and prepared to meet these new people as she approached.

To her surprise, the people were not much smaller than herself, and definitely not bigger, much to Kira's relief. Unlike her, however, there were very pale with curly brown hair and big hairy feet.

She passed an older gentleman herding several pigs along. She stopped and watched him work with wide-eyed interest since she had never witnessed this behavior before. The man caught her staring and dismissed her with a quick, "Good afternoon."

Right. She thought to herself. Stop staring at people. Kira took a deep breath and focus very hard on the few signs that she could see. She was mostly illiterate, but she knew a few trade symbols. She peered closely at each sign one by one. Many of them were of hobbit family names unbeknownst to her, and she unfortunately could not make out what they were indicating.

Several hours past and she was starting to panic that she couldn't recognize any of these markings. Perhaps she didn't know as much of the common language as she thought. Twice she attempted to approach a person, but each time they had given her a lookover, bade her, "Good Evening" and scurried off.

She sat down on a nearby bench, night having already fallen on the land known as The Shire, and began to hyperventilate. He body was shaking and her skin felt cold and clammy. She pulled her cloak from her bag and wrapped it around her shoulders, shivering.

Kira you idiot, she thought to herself. What have I gotten myself into? She knew what was coming but she did not want to give into her fear. She closed her eyes, wrapped her arms around her stomach, and lowered her head. She took one deep breath counting slowly to 5 as she inhaled and again as she exhaled. She slowly breathed again. And again.

After a few minutes, Kira had gotten herself together enough to think. It is too late for today. Find somewhere to sleep.

She calmly stood up and looked at each door one by one. None of them had signs nearby. She kept on down the line of buildings and doors.

She very nearly missed a marking on one of the nicer doors that looked rather familiar. Had it not been for her scouring every inch of it, she would have missed the small character. She racked her brain trying to remember where it looked familiar. The sailor! She remembered the man her father had saved from the shipwreck so many years ago.

Father said something about it meaning treasure-seeker or burglar for hire, she thought to herself. She glanced up and down the door and garden. It looked too peaceful to be the home of a burglar, so perhaps he was looking for one? I could be a burglar, she thought to herself. She was quite handy with any tools and was very quiet when she wanted to be. It doesn't hurt to ask, right?

She gave a confident knock at the door before noticing the bell. Idiot. She rang the bell loudly hoping to cover up her faux pas.

She heard an agitated voice coming from the other side of the door, "Now who could this possibly be! We have plenty of dwarves here, thank you! Twelve is quite enough!"

Kira considered running away and trying back tomorrow given the mood the owner seemed to be in. Before she could make up her mind to leave, Bilbo yanked the door open in a huff.

"Wait, you aren't a dwarf," he said a little flummoxed.

He stared at the woman in his doorway. She was clearly not a dwarf (didn't dwarf women have beards?) and she was too short to be a human or elf. She was clearly no hobbit, either: her hair was long and a beautiful jet-black, tied back in many intricate braids. She wore plain travel clothes, a white flowy shirt and black pants. Her skin was smooth and darker than any skin tone Bilbo had seen. He decided that caramel or copper would be a good word for the tone. She looked fairly young, too.

"Excuse me?" Kira said a little hesitantly. His staring at her was making her uncomfortable and she was beginning to fidget. Bilbo snapped out of his short stupor and remembered his manners.

"My apologies! I must have gotten lost in thought. I am Bilbo Baggins of Bag End. Can I help you?"

The woman smiled as she answered, "Yes, I'm applying to burglar." Her faced contorted slightly at the last word, as though she was unsure of what she said. Her speech sounded a little off, like she wasn't used to speaking in pure Westron. "No," she corrected herself, "I would like to be a burglar," she smiled again, "If you need one."

"Well, I…" Bilbo stammered unsure of how to respond to her.

Gandalf had been watching for his return to the dining room full of dwarves eating supper and had begun to wonder if Bilbo had run off. The wizard stood up as well as he could in Bilbo's small home and walked briskly to the door. He found Bilbo stammering in the doorway.

"Bilbo," Gandalf interrupted, "You have guests in need of supper! What on Earth could be holding you?" Gandalf opened the door wider and saw the women standing before them. "Oh my. Where have you come from my dear?"

"The south." She responded. She wasn't sure if her being a nomad would be detrimental to this interview. "My people live in the forests but I have trades that benefit any quest. I made everything you see on my person."

"The south…" Gandalf murmured to himself. "Well let her in Bilbo! Let us adjourn to your study. That is still where you keep your maps, correct? Fetch one that includes the south of the Shire."

Bilbo stepped aside to allow Kira to enter. Without a word he went off to his books and maps to rummage around for a suitable one. Gandalf took her cloak and pack and lead Kira to the study.

"What is your name, my dear?" He spoke kindly to her since he had been noticing her fidgeting becoming more pronounced as the awkward silence went on. He did not want to alarm her.

Kira looked up at the tall wizard. She was beginning to get a little frightened of her situation, but she did her best to not let it show.

"My name is Kira, sir." Gandalf motioned for her to sit in one of Bilbo's armchair once they had reached the study. She slowly sat down as a rush of relief shot up her legs. She had not noticed how sore her feet were until now. She let out a small sigh and sank into the soft chair.

Bilbo held out the map in front of Gandalf. "Gandalf, would this suffice?" He asked the Wizard.

"Wonderfully, thank you." Gandalf gingerly took the map from the hobbit and waved him away. Bilbo reluctantly returned to the dining room where the dwarves had elevated their party to a whole new level.

Kira heard much laughing going on in the house and roars of my voices competing for attention. She tried to ignore the noise and focus on her job interview.

"Now can your outline your journey for me using this map? You are here," Gandalf pointed to Hobbiton on the map, "and you said you came from the south?"

"Yes," Kira began, "I come from the forests here by the coast," she pointed to Eryn Vorn on the map. "My mother is ill and my father is gone. I followed the river to find work." She traced her finger down the Baranduin River as she said this. She was quite pleased with how good her language was sounding so far. "I am quiet and can fare well on my own in a mission. Would you employ me in your quests?" She finished this sentence with a smile.

"Quite so my dear! I believe you would be an invaluable addition to our party!" Gandalf responded with a chuckle. "To think I would come across a nomad at my age! Hrrmph!" With that, Gandalf got up and returned to the rest of the party.

Kira couldn't help but squeak as she scrambled up to follow her new employer. Yes! And I didn't even have to marry anyone. She thought to herself quite pleased. Looks like she won't need her dress after all. Things could not have gone better. She was grinning as she entered the dining room full of dwarves. She was not too fond of parties full of people, but she was determined to make a good impression.

Kira entered the very cramped room and mumbled excuse me's and pardons as she made her way to the far end of the table. The dwarves were so engrossed in their merriment that the really didn't notice her until she bumped straight into Fili, who was leaving the table to refill mugs of ale.

"Pardon me, miss." He said as he rushed past her. Fili then stopped in his tracks. Miss? He thought to himself. He turned around and looked at her again. "Oi! Is she supposed to be here, Gandalf?" The other dwarves took notice of her at last. Fili now glanced between the wizard and Kira, the latter of whom was glancing between all the faces now on her. She was getting very uncomfortable.

The dwarves all started talking at once: "Who is she?" "Is she a hobbit, too?" "She looks nothing like the other one." "Maybe she is diseased." "Shut up, Ori." "Did the wizard invite her?"

Fili got very close (much too close, in Kira's opinion) and studied her face and braids. He was no more than and inch away from her face, his long nose very nearly brushing against hers, as he stared into her dark golden eyes.

Kira dared not breathe. She did not know if this inspection was normal behavior or not, but knew she did not want to offend anyone on her first day. She held her breath and stood perfectly still while Fili stared. "Oh my…" he gasped, "Kili come look! She has gold in her eyes."

"What? Gold?" Kili jumped over the table to join his brother in staring at her eyes. "My God, Gandalf what creature have you brought us?" Kili grinned at her while his brother continued to stare, seemingly mesmerized by the swirls of gold in her eyes.

"Enough of this!" Gandalf shouted getting up. "Leave that poor girl alone. Fili!" With a soft sigh, Fili broke his eye contact and looked back at the wizard.

"Who is she then?" Fili asked. "I don't think my uncle will appreciate your female companion listening in on our planning." The dwarves chuckled in agreement.

Kira finally breathed again once Fili was more than a couple feet away from her. She cleared her throat. She needed to establish a positive rapport now, and she was not convinced that being called an old man's "companion" was a good start to this.

"I am Kira." She stated as firmly as she could. The dwarves turned their attention back to her again. "I was hired by Gandalf to be your burglar this evening." She was beginning to feel her confidence returning.

"Too bad we don't need a burglar this evening." Gloin retorted to the laughter of many of the older dwarves. She felt her confidence creep away again.

"Master Gloin, she will be accompanying us on our quest," Gandalf interjected. "I interviewed her myself. She is a nomad of the southern forest of Eryn Vorn and I do believe she can help us. At least, we are not in any position to turn away able bodies!"

"We'll see what Thorin has to say once he arrives," Dwalin said plainly returning to his ale.

"Indeed," Gandalf said quietly returning to his pipe.

As the dwarves settled back into their food and ale, Balin found Kira a chair and kindly placed it next to Kili. "Here you are, miss," he said with a smile. Kira thanked him and sat down. She pulled out a patch of leather from her pocket and removed the needle and thread she had embedded in the hem of her shirt. She started stitching a pattern in the leather. Kira had found that keeping her hands busy was key to keeping herself relaxed.

She watched as the dwarves finished their food and began to clear up the mess she presumed they had made. Bilbo seemed to have quite forgotten her as he attempted to direct the dwarves around his house. The poor hobbit was quite flustered at this point.

Kira chuckled quietly to herself at his poor interactions with the laid back dwarves. She did not interrupt since she still was unsure of what was appropriate.

Kira placed the patch of leather back in her pocket and walked over to the kitchen where most of the dwarves had begun to gather. Bilbo had gone off to complain to Gandalf about the state of his house.

"They've all but destroyed the plumbing. I don't understand what they are doing in my house!" Bilbo glared at the wizard as he stamped about his house.

She felt quite sorry for him so decided to help Bifur with the dishes that had piled up. Bifur said nothing to her, just smiled as she rolled up her sleeves.

Before she realized what was happening, Bifur began catching dishes as they were thrown to him. He laughed at her shocked face.

"That's nothing, lass. Watch this." He washed the dish and handed it to her to dry it right as another whizzed by his head. He caught each dish with ease. She dried it off. "Now toss it back!" He said with glee. He knew what was coming next.

As though it were rehearsed, the dwarves broke out in merry song as they cleaned the dishes. Bilbo was at a loss.

For the first time since leaving the forest, Kira laughed. She was genuinely enjoying the company of these dwarves though they hadn't paid her much mind since their first awkward encounter. She even joined in for some of the repeated lines:

Blunt the knives bend the forks!
Smash the bottles and burn the corks!
Chip the glasses and crack the plates!
That's what Bilbo Baggins hates -Cut the cloth tread on the fat!
Leave the bones on the bedroom mat!
Pour the milk on the pantry floor!Splash the wine on every door!
Dump the crocks in a boiling bowl;
Pound them up with a thumping pole;
And when you've finished, if they are whole,
Send them down the hall to roll!
That's what Bilbo Baggins hates!

As the song came to an end, Bilbo stared incredulously at a plate of unbroken, clean dishes.

Before he could say anything, three firm knocks were heard at the door.

A hush fell over the room as all eyes turned to the door.

"He's here," said Gandalf solemnly. Gandalf rose and went to the door.

"Who is here?" Kira asked Kili quietly. Kili gave her a look of surprise, as if he hadn't noticed she was standing next to him this whole time.

"Thorin, my uncle," he replied with a proud smile.

"Thorin Oakenshield, the leader of this company," Fili corrected him. Fili gave Kili a sharp look and gave Kira a soft smile.

"Oh," she responded. She wasn't sure if she was supposed to know who he was.

"Let's see what he thinks of you." Fili gently placed a hand on her back as they all walked over to the door to greet their leader.

Author: Hope you enjoyed the first chapter! This is my first fanfic so feedback and constructive criticisms are welcomed and encouraged. :)