Hello! So this is my first Hobbit fic, I hope y'all enjoy!

I do not own The Hobbit, or any of its characters/plot. Dain would still be in the Iron Hills if I did own it, but alas, Tolkien had to rip everyone's hearts out. Don't sue me I'm poor.

~0~

Prologue

Belladonna Took had always been a bit of an unusual hobbit. Now, it was well known that both the families Took and Brandybuck had an adventurous streak, but very few ever acted on said streak. Belladonna was one of the rare few that did, and act she did. One morning, she packed her bags, and the hobbits of Hobbiton watched as the young Took set out on her own little adventure.

Many expected her to return within a matter of weeks; after all, she had informed everyone that she was just visiting Bree. It was only a few days away, surely she wouldn't take very long?

After nearly eight months with no word, Belladonna was, reluctantly, assumed dead.

The Took clan was devastated (and rightly so), for Belladonna was a bright spot in many of their lives. Most of Hobbiton, in fact, mourned her loss. It seemed the Shire simply would not be the same without her wit and bright personality.

So it came as quite a shock when not three years later, Belladonna Took waltzed into town with a bow and quiver on her back, a small sword at her hip, an elegant cloak around her neck and a rather stuffed and overflowing pack in her hands. The town rejoiced, and soon many a tale was told of Belladonna the Brave and her adventures through Middle Earth.

Though, there were some that did not see her as such.

As time went on and the shock of her sudden return eased, many mocked and tormented the hobbit woman, for no respectable hobbit went on such grand adventures, or any adventures at all really. Men sneered, called her a whore and a thief (for after three years of travelling, one acquires many exotic things), and some in their drunkenness thought it a good idea to try and bed the 'Shire Whore'. They were all met with a sword to the nose and threats against their ability to further produce offspring. After three failed attempts, none tried again. The women, well they did what women do best. Gossip.

Rumors spread like a wildfire, each one more ridiculous than the last. Usually, the consisted of the Tooks disowning her, or that she was barren and it caused her to run away. Some told of how she used her "womanly wiles" (for they were too polite even in gossip to use the term "whored herself out") to survive these past three years alone. The rumors only intensified when Belladonna would start making weekly ventures into the Old Forest, a place that many had previously dubbed haunted. Many assumed that she was meeting a lover, or perhaps was into black magic; no one could ever prove anything.

Belladonna took no note of these rumors, however, and continued about her business as usual. She would never go any further than the Old Forest, however because she had found love in the most unlikely of men-Bungo Baggins. Of course his family did not approve in the slightest of their son's choice in partner. The Baggins' were considered one of the most respectful and respected clans in all of the Shire, and for one of them to marry the Shire Whore was enough cause for a riot. But, eventually, even they could not deny that their love was true. Everyone could see it plain as day; every time the two were together they simply radiated happiness and love for each other was etched into every crevice of their faces. And if anyone ever accused Belladonna of bewitching Bungo, neither paid it any attention.

Soon the young couple was married, and they moved into Bag End, the house that Bungo built himself for his bride, and Belladonna settled into her role as "wife".

Well, almost.

Bungo never begrudged his wife's love for adventure; in fact he encouraged it. It was one of the many things that made him fall in love with the she-hobbit (along with her intelligence and her sharp tongue, a no nonsense attitude and how she was unafraid to speak her mind, it was a breath of fresh air compared to the quiet and polite bootlickishness that his parents wanted him to be with). So when Belladonna would inform her husband of her intentions to "go out," he simply replied with a loving "Come back safe." And she always came back to her husband.

It was rather sudden when Belladonna announced that she was with child, and even more shocking when it turned out that there was indeed a child. Since the entirety of the Shire believed Belladonna barren, everyone came to see the miracle child for themselves and the couple soon found Bag End crowded with hobbits. And thus, Billa Baggins was introduced to the world.

~0~

On the day of her sixth birthday, Billa met her first man.

Belladonna had met many people during her three years of traveling, and they had become important aspects of her life. So on the day of her daughter's birth, she wrote to all of them, inviting them to Bag End to visit and meet her daughter and husband. Mateon was the first to arrive.

Mateon, a Ranger from the North, had found Belladonna injured while on patrol and had healed her, then allowed her to travel with him for many months. The two of them saved many lives, including those of a dwarf and elf couple (a very rare sight indeed), and each other's lives many times over. Eventually they parted ways, as all travelers do, but promised to keep in touch.

Billa was fascinated by the Big Person, and became his personal shadow. Mateon (with Belladonna and Bungo's permission, of course) taught Billa how to be stealthy, even more so than most hobbits already were. He taught her to move through the trees and even the most crowded market place unseen and unheard, and how to survive in the wild. Mateon showed her many plants that were edible, and which ones were poisoness, and how to skin and cook the game he caught. Once the Ranger left months later, many hobbits were left wondering where their crops had gotten to.

As Billa grew, so did her beauty. With hair like molten sunshine, lightly tanned smooth skin and rich blue eyes, she was indeed a very pretty hobbit girl. And as her beauty grew, so did her abilities.

Billa had always loved animals. Ever since she could walk, Billa could be seen playing with the squirrels and singing with the birds rather than chasing the other children around their yards. No one really thought anything of it, thinking that she simply a shy child and didn't know how to act around the other children. "She'll grow out of it," they told themselves. But as she entered her teenage years, they noticed something odd. Instead of Billa following the birds all day, the birds started following her. Soon, many of the animals in the Shire (even the little garden snakes) could been seen trailing after the young hobbit. Sometimes, you could hear the whispered rumors that Billa could actually communicate with the animals (she could, of course, why else would they be following her around?) and they would be accompanied by harsh words; "freak," "unnatural," and "witch" were popular amongst the gossips. The hobbits seemed to believe that, as a child, Billa wouldn't hear their words, much less understand them.

But Billa did hear them, and each wary glance and quick shooing away of the children she went to play with cut into the child's fragile heart like shards of broken glass, and she would run home crying. Finally, after much pestering, she confessed to her parents exactly what the matter was. "Why am I like this," she whispered brokenly. "Is it true, what they say? Am I truly a witch, or a freak?" Belladonna placed her daughter on her lap and hugged her tightly to her chest, while Bungo her chin in his hands and turned her face to him.

"Wipe your eyes, precious. Their words do not matter. You are a king soul, loving, and so very beautiful. You were born for greatness, Billa, and it is because of your abilities that you will achieve it." Bungo wiped her tears away and a fierce look entered his eyes that made Billa cease her sniffling. Her jovial father rarely got this serious, but when he did, all listened. "It does not matter what the world thinks of you, Billa. What matters is what resides in your heart, and of what you believe of yourself. You are only a freak if you let yourself believe it. That, is why your mother and I are here," he then locked eyes with his wife, who was smiling at him. "To make sure that you never believe their words." And Billa trusted that her father was right.

The next day, Billa's lessons began anew. Her mother would teach her to fight, and to speak the different dialects she had learned in her years of traveling, while her father taught her to cook and sew and the art of healing. When she had the time, Billa would learn to harness her gifts, and to strengthen her bonds with the animals the frequented Bag End. Often times Belladonna brought her out into the Old Forest, for there was a wider variety of animals that lived in the woods.

When her mother's friends would visit, they would also contribute in Billa's teachings. Celestain of Mirkwood gifted the young hobbit with a bow, made from the oldest tree in the wood, (a rowan tree, she later learned) and taught her to read the stars. Her husband, Lothran of the Iron Hills taught her to fight with a battle ax, as well as Khuzdul. Only the bare minimum, mind you, as it was a complicated language to learn, and as it was technically illegal for other races to know anything of the language. Dwarves were a very private race, and their language was one of the most closely guarded secrets among them; the only way an outsider would learn of it was if they were family to the dwarf in question. Luckily for the Baggins family, Belladonna had become an honorary sister to Lothran after their many adventures together, so Lothran felt it his duty to teach his niece simple conversational Khuzdul. He also made her learn how to do certain braids, and their meanings, and at her Coming of Age Ceremony gifted her a hair bead with his family crest and runes etched into it that he had made just for her. (That night, he began to teach Billa how to drink like a dwarf. While her mother disapproved, it was Bungo, surprisingly enough, that encouraged it, even going so far as to buy the first two rounds for his daughter and brother-but-not-in-law. Over the duration of Lothran and Celestain's three month stay, Billa and her uncle would be seen frequently in the Green Dragon. Soon enough, though, Billa was able to drink the dwarf under the table, and Lothran declared their trips a success. Celestain simply rolled her eyes at her husband's actions and they left for their own home.)

Another of Belladonna's friends -a blacksmith and leather-worker sibling team, Jamel and Jamie- made Billa custom armor, and a pair of stiletto daggers she could easily hide in the folds of her dress, along with a rather large collection of throwing knives. Light but lethal, the twins instructed Billa in the best way to use the longer daggers, leaving a delighted Belladonna to teach her daughter about the throwing knives (Bungo distantly wondered if it was healthy to gift a woman with so many weapons, then shook the thought from his mind, seeing as how he wasn't exactly discouraging it all with his extensive knowledge of poisons that Billa had managed to stumble upon). Regardless of what it was she was studying at the time, or under whoever's tutelage, she would always be home in time for supper, as her father taught was good manners.

Then the Fell Winter came.

~0~

The Fell Winter was the worst winter in all Shire history. The Brandywine River had completely frozen over, and nearly two feet of frost covered every inch of the land. No crops were spared from the relentless cold, and the resources coming in from Men's towns were slow coming, but they eventually arrived. The starving hobbits were able to trade what gold or other valuables they owned for food and blankets, though much of it was freely given by the Men. Soon, though, the caravans bringing food began to slow, then stop completely. Orcs had infested the land, and raided the large parties bringing the much needed resources to the Shire. Warg scouts began to trickle into the icy hills of Hobbiton, and families were forced to barricade themselves in their homes in fear of not being attacked. Of course, it happened anyways. For the first few weeks, the hobbits that were desperate enough to trek outside their houses met their end either by the frost or by Orc. Their screams could be heard throughout the entirety of Hobbiton, but none came out to help them. Eventually, they stopped sending hobbits outside.

The snow seemed to seep into Bag End, making the once vibrantly warm hobbit hole cold and damp. Billa, her parents and the few animals she had managed to find and lead into the house managed to preserve most of their food for an extended period of time by forgoing their usual seven meals a day to three light meals a day, then down to two. The three hobbits would shiver occasionally during the day, as they would save the fire wood for nights when it was coldest. But soon Billa noticed her mother's unusually pale face, and the wheezing breaths she took. Bungo did everything he could with what they had to cure his wife from whatever illness had befallen her, but it was no use. She was getting worse, and their food supply was getting dangerously low.

The next day, Billa donned her armor and cloak, strapped her mother's sword to her hip and slid her stiletto daggers into the double sided leather holster made specifically for them, then slipped out of the highest window of Bag End. Billa, along with a squirrel and a thrush she had befriended, scoured their desolate village, hoping beyond hope that they would find something to help her mother.

They didn't.

The trio continued this routine for a week before a miracle came to her, in the form of mint and rosemary. Billa gathered the herbs and rushed back towards Bag End, praying to every deity she could thing of that she wasn't too late to save her mother, when she heard it. The loud snapping of a stick in the road. She stopped immediately, straining her ears for anything that might have caused it. After a few moments of silence, she let out the breath she didn't even remember holding and continued on her path, only to stop again when another snap sounded through the silent day. Billa slowly drew her sword and looked around, hoping to catch sight of whatever it was causing the noise when she felt hot breath on the back of her neck. She froze, completely rigid, then quick as she could swung her body around, slashing the warg across its muzzle and backed away quickly. The warg howled in pain and reared away from her, while the Orc riding it snarled. Soon both were upon her, but Billa did not allow herself to lock up like she so dearly wished she could. Instead, she gripped her sword tightly and blocked the blow the Orc had leveled on her. Twisting her hands slightly, Billa brought her sword and the crude instrument the Orc used close to the ground before she let it up suddenly, causing the orc to become unbalanced. He growled and the warg brought itself closer to her, only to find one of her daggers hilt deep in between its eyes. The warg crumpled, taking its rider down with it.

The orc shrieked in rage and lunged at Billa, slashing at her in rapid, uncontrolled movements. Billa blocked as many as she could, but one of them caught her in the shoulder, cutting into her collarbone and making her cry out in pain. The orc grinned cruelly and raised his (she had assumed it was a male absentmindedly) arm to bring his sword into her chest, but she quickly kicked out and caught his legs and pulled, making him topple to the ground. Then she brought her sword down harshly, burying it in his chest. She listened as her took his last shuddering breaths, watched the black blood trickle from his opened mouth and the light fade from his eyes and suppressed the urge to vomit. The putrid smell of blood filled her nose and Billa turned away sharply, and she yanked the sword from his chest. She winced when the sword came free with a sickening squelch, and she brought a hand up to cover her nose. After taking a few deep, shuddering breaths, Billa stood and backed away from the dead Orc, smiling sadly at the thrush and squirrel that rested on both shoulders. As Billa began to make her way to her home, a long, pitiful wail broke through Hobbiton, and Billa stopped in her tracks once more. A growing sense of dread settled heavily in her stomach and her hands shook slightly.

"No," she whispered. "No, no, no, NO!" Billa sprinted back to Bag End, where the wails originated from and tumbled through the high window. The cries of her father cut to her bones, and she knew she was too late. Her mother was dead.

~0~

The next day, the Rangers arrived, along with one of the Istari. The snow had finally ceased its incessant fall, and by midday they had driven the remaining Orcs and wargs from the Shire. The frost was, slowly but surely, beginning to melt, and all of the Shire rejoiced as the first stirrings of Spring swept through the lands.

However, for the remaining residents of Bag End, it was hardly time to celebrate.

One week after the Fell Winter ended, Belladonna Baggins was put to rest in the Old Forest, surrounded by most of the Took Clan, her friends Mateon, whom had been one of the first Rangers to arrive in the Shire, Jamel and Jamie, and Celestain and Lothran. All had come to pay their respects, and to offer Billa words of comfort. Their family and friends attempted to speak to Bungo, but he simply did not respond to any words or touch besides that of his daughter. Once the two had arrived back at Bag End, Bungo locked himself in his bedroom for two weeks, barely eating except for what Billa forced down his throat.

"It won't be long now," she said softly to the animals gathered around her one afternoon as she sat in the garden. "He's fading, and I don't believe that I can stop it." Her prediction was, unfortunately, proven correct, for not two days after that, Bungo Baggins faded from this world. He was laid to rest next to his beloved wife, and everything was left to Billa; Bag End and all of its wealth and possessions.

Her family on the Baggins side objected heavily to this fact. Hardly anything had been left to her father's greedy family, and they were absolutely infuriated. After months of arguing and thinly veiled threats, it had finally come to Billa holding her cousin Lobelia Sackville-Baggins at sword point for trying to steal her mother's silver spoons from Rivendell that made the threats finally stop. She none so gently shoved Lobelia through the round door, threatened to run her through if she was ever seen on Bag End property, and promptly closed the door in her cousin's face.

Fifteen years later, Billa Baggins was everything a respectable hobbit was supposed to be. She carefully packed her armor away, hung up her bow and swords in the depths of a closet, and left only her dagger by her bed. It seemed old habits die hard.

The gardens of Bag End were well kept, and Billa was perfectly polite to everyone she saw. Granted, she was a bit of a recluse, and many frowned upon the fact that she was nearly fifty years old and still unmarried, thought she paid those words no mind, just like her father taught her to. The animals of the Shire still followed her, and she still spoke to her furry little friends, but only in the privacy of her own home. Billa was quite content with her life as it was.

She should have known it wouldn't last, especially when a particularly familiar wandering wizard stood before her gate.