Thank you to everyone for reviewing – Please see the note at the end!

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The air was thick with tree dust as they started along the short road west toward the Shire, a detour Gandalf had assured them was entirely necessary. Apparently this venture had great need of a burglar – Aüle alone knew why. If the dragon had died, then there would be little use in sneaking around, and if the dragon was still alive, who in the seven hells would be addled enough to volunteer to fetch treasure one piece at a time? It wasn't as if a small group of dwarves would be able to subdue and kill a whole live dragon – unless Gandalf had a few kills behind his back, he was a wizard. What good would another vertically stunted, hopefully humanoid individual do, even if he was skilled in rather morally dubious fields?

That being said, he was rather curious about the exact point of their venture – Thorin claimed it was to recover a lost homeland, but just because a dragon was quiet, it didn't mean it was dead. He'd browsed a vast wealth of dragon-related tales and recollections in his studies – dragons were notorious for being incessantly lazy. Perhaps this one had simply acquired such a great fortune that it had no need to venture outside of its lair, and from the stories Thorin had told about the great wealth of his grandfather and the glorious treasures of the dwarves of Erebor, it seemed entirely feasible. It was also rather more likely than his uncle's optimistic theory of it suddenly ceasing and desisting – not that he'd dare to mention this to Thorin, though.

Rather more alarmingly, Thorin seemed to be exhibiting early symptoms of the great sickness that was fabled to have afflicted his father and grandfather. Not a physical malady, but perhaps a more dangerous sickness – a sickness of the mind.

Gold lust.

Absently, he wondered if any good would come of this venture. Was Thorin stable enough to lead such a company, if his mind happened upon gold before the members of the company? He made a mental note to keep a closer eye on his uncle, particularly where his brother was concerned.

Beside him, said brother fidgeted restlessly atop his pony, probably still deep in thought about what to name the aforementioned beast. Fili himself was ill at ease with the creatures – possibly recalling the incident that had injured his brother, cracked his own collar bone and left the two last fingers on his left hand permanently crooked.

As they crossed the Brandywine, heading up towards the centre of the Shire, a small settlement known as Hobbiton – so named by its alarmingly imaginative inhabitants, became visible. How this contact of Gandalf's managed to make a living through theft in this sleepy, twee little town was mystifying. The more he saw, the less he liked. It was almost mid-morning and the place was desolate – did these people not rise 'til midday or something? How did they get anything done? The majority of the industry seemed to be farming and all the dwellings were carved into the hillsides. The only non-housing structures seemed to be a mill and several inns. Well, these hobbits certainly had their priorities right, but Hobbiton looked a tremendously slow and dreary place compared to the bustling industry of the Blue Mountains.

It was rather picturesque, but it made Fili long for glorious, candlelit halls hewn from marble and rock. The sunlight was imposingly bright, making him squint irritably. It soon became clear that this hobbit would be harder to find than previously thought. Not a single one of the dwellings was marked by name or number and all they had to go by was the name Baggins. Or perhaps it was Buggins….

Either way, Hobbiton was deserted. The silence that permeated the town was reminiscent of a settlement visited by a deadly plague. Knocking on several doors yielded no response – either the hobbits were all deceased or they were extremely heavy sleepers.

As they waited awkwardly in the small square, Fili could feel himself growing restless. To his right, he could tell Kili was experiencing the same mindset. With Kili, one did not have to ask – his emotions were clearly visible from his physical state of being. It was usually his face that gave it away, but today, restlessness was evident in his body language too. The shuffling and toe tapping were enough in themselves, but his younger brother was, in typically Kili fashion, vocalising his complaints as well. Sometimes, when the urge to punch his brother grew overmuch, he fantasised about being an only child. Being an older sibling could be wearying sometimes.

Finally, as the midday sun rose in the sky, there were signs of life in Hobbiton. The town's sleepy inhabitants gradually emerged from their humble, grass-covered dwellings to stare at them suspiciously, as if they were the strange ones. Rising at midday, what a thought. How did they get anything done? Did they even do anything besides eat, drink and sleep? Hobbits were, naturally, a complete mystery.

Eventually, his uncle had mustered the wits to seek directions and found, to their dismay, that there were plenty of Baggins and more than a few Buggins in Hobbiton. After acquiring a rudimentary map scrawled hastily on a jam-stained cotton napkin from a rather disgruntled local, they set about their task, only to find that many of the Baggins lived outside of Hobbiton, including several offshoots of the family that included the Sackville-Baggins and Chubb-Baggins variants.

By high noon, they were exhausted, frustrated and more than willing to strangle the majority of hobbits that they'd come into contact with. A certain family - the Sackville-Bagginses - had been the worst of all, and they left the dwelling at somewhat of a run – or a brisk walk if you were Thorin. None of the doors had been marked, as per Gandalf's instructions and tempers were broiling at an all-time high.

Eventually, as the sun had started to set, Thorin had left them to seek out the wizard and they had been left with the dubious task of still searching for their supposed 'burglar'.

The suspicious looks had not ceased. The hobbits seemed to have come awake as the sun waned and Fili had a sudden flashback to grasping hands and gleaming eyes. He hoped desperately that hobbits were vegetarians, because he'd yet to see any livestock and the darks looks on every face they passed suggested that, if they weren't careful, they'd end up in the cooking pot. Kili too, had sensed this and had drawn closer with every minute that passed.

Fili swallowed nervously as another creature gave him the evil eye. At least they weren't man-sized, for Aüle's sake, but what they lacked in height, they made up for in girth. He supposed they could probably out-run them if anyone got a bit 'grabby'.

It was then, as darkness fell, that they spotted a small party of what desperately looked like other dwarves heading up a path to the north of Hobbiton, towards a more isolated hilly dwelling. It couldn't be coincidence. Not daring to run, in case the hobbits' vision was based on movement and that was the sole reason for their continued existence, they walked a little more rapidly in that direction. As they caught up, Fili could tell the dwarves were unfamiliar – or at least he had never met them before, but strange dwarves were better than strange hobbits any day.

In the dull moonlight, he could just catch the slightest gleam of magic glinting on a wooden door and ascertained that hopefully, hopefully, they were in the right place. With a brief nod of greeting at the other party, Fili pattered up the path to join them.

Hopefully this hobbit would be the fellow they were seeking - because if he wasn't, then Thorin could find himself another burglar, because he wasn't staying in this place an hour longer.

Because who knew what they did to trespassers after the sun went down?

….

I now have a bit of a quandary on my hands. Since I've written this story up until the company meet at Bag End, I've taken this as far as it can theoretically go – but if everyone is still happy to read it, I'm happy to keep writing throughout the journey. Please let me know what you'd prefer - send me a message or let me know in the reviews. If not, I would like to say a massive thank you to everyone who has enjoyed this fanfiction and supported me throughout, despite a few rather long pauses!