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“Gandalf,” Bilbo said lowly to not interrupt the dwarves talking quietly around his table. He’d managed to stand to the side and witness much of what was going on in his smial that evening. He just couldn’t figure out one thing. “Can I speak with you for a moment?”
“Say it here,” Thorin Oakenshield commanded without turning to look back at Bilbo. “If there is an issue, we would hear of it.”
Bilbo frowned at him before looking back at Gandalf. The wizard did not move. “All right then,” Bilbo said as he straightened up. “Why are you here?”
“What?” one of the other dwarves asked as they all stared at him.
Thorin turned around in his chair to look at Bilbo properly. “What do you mean?”
“I get that you’re going on a quest,” Bilbo said as he looked from Thorin to Gandalf to some of the others. He really needed to learn their names. “But why are you starting that quest here, in my home?”
Slowly, all the dwarves turned to look at Gandalf
The wizard cleared his throat as he shifted his weight in his chair. “Well, this is sooner in the evening than I expected but I don’t see a reason we couldn’t discuss this now.”
Bilbo simply lifted his brows as he stared Gandalf down.
“You see,” Gandalf started before he took a second to gather his thoughts. “We need a fourteenth member of the company,” he said at last.
Bilbo didn’t bother to turn his head and count. He knew how many guests were already in his home. “There are fourteen of you.”
“Ah.” Gandalf set his hands on the table as he smiled a bit sheepishly at Bilbo. “I don’t count. There are thirteen dwarves going on this journey. We are searching for their fourteenth member.”
“Do you want my recommendation?” Bilbo asked as he crossed his arms over his chest. “I’m sure one of my relations knows of someone who would accompany you.”
Gandalf winced as the dwarves started muttering.
Thorin sighed before he got up from the table. “You are to be our fourteenth member.”
“Me?” Bilbo asked skeptically as he pointed to himself. “Me? No. Heavens no. That’s not allowed.”
Thorin just stared at him.
“Gandalf,” Bilbo said as he turned back to the wizard. “Tell them that that is not allowed!”
“And why not?” Gandalf huffed as he crossed his arms. “Hobbits go on quests and journeys all the time.”
“To witness!” Bilbo all but shouted. He felt as though he shouldn’t have to explain what hobbits do. Least of all to the wizard sitting in his dining room. “Most of the time, we make those journeys while invisible!”
“He can turn invisible?” One of the dwarves asked.
“No wonder the wizard wants him as our burglar,” another chimed in.
Bilbo closed his eyes and pressed his fingers to his forehead. “No,” he said again. “I won’t be going.”
Gandalf studied him for a moment before he relaxed and rested his hands back on the table. “I seem to remember a young hobbit lass who jumped at the chance to join one of my quests without the need of being unseen.”
Bilbo dropped his hand as he glared up at Gandalf. He did not lift his head as he made sure that the wizard knew exactly how he felt. “Bringing up my mother was cruel. Someone else will be assigned to witness this journey. Good night.”
He spun on his heel and stomped from the room with his hands clenched at his sides. “The nerve of them!” he muttered harshly to himself. “Accompanying them as a member of their company rather than in secret. That’s not how it is done!”
He made it all the way down the hall and into his bedroom while still muttering to himself. It wasn’t until he turned to start pacing in his room that he felt it.
“No,” Bilbo groaned as he looked down at his chest. He only needed to call upon a little of his magic granted to him by his Lady Valar to see the thread that connected all hobbits to her. It was pulsing. “No,” he whispered again. “I don’t want to go on this journey with them. That’s rewarding bad behavior. Choose someone else.”
He felt a tug and dropped his head in defeat.
“Fine,” he grumbled. “But I shan’t tell them until morning.”
XXX
“So,” one of the dwarves began. Dori, if Bilbo wasn’t mistaken. “You said that hobbits often go on journeys and quests.”
“That’s right,” Bilbo said with a nod. The day was lovely and his pony was doing most of the work for him. A perk of accompanying them without being invisible, though he wouldn’t admit that. “We are in the service of our Lady Valar.”
“And which one is that?” A dwarf from farther behind shouted up at them.
He turned to look back and see who had asked but the dwarves behind him all looked curious. “My Lady is the most skillful of the Valar. She is a weaver and a historian. She knows everything that has happened and weaves it into a tapestry of antiquity. She is the Lady Vaire. It was only due to her great need that hobbits were created.”
“She weaves?” Ori asked as he lifted his head from where he’d been scribbling down notes in a little journal. “I like to crochet.”
Bilbo smiled at the young dwarf. “They are not quite the same thing.”
“Pardon me,” Balin said as he slowed his pony down to better hear the conversation. “You said that she created you to help her. What do you do?”
Bilbo puffed up his chest as he sat taller on his pony. “All hobbits are connected to our Lady by a thread. One of the very ones that she weaves. We travel all over to make certain that her work is complete."
Bofur made a considering noise as he shifted his hat on his head. “There were a lot of hobbits that we saw. Does that mean nothing important is happening right now?”
“Whatever do you mean?” Bilbo asked as he blinked at the dwarf in confusion. “We do not document only the important things. We help her by witnessing everything.”
“Hobbits are a comely folk,” Gandalf cut in as his horse sidled up to Bilbo’s pony. “They can move unseen if they wish and mostly often seem to look like children to men and elves. They are quite capable of completing their mistress’s task.”
“And there is great joy to be found in the everyday lives of people,” Bilbo added with a small smile. “Not everyone must go on a grand adventure like yourselves.”
“Sounds boring,” Nori muttered to his brother.
Dori hushed him before looking back at Bilbo. “Well, it must be good luck to have someone so closely related to their Valar with us. I’m sure we’ll make it through without any trouble.”
XXX
Bilbo stood in the shadows of the trees, invisible. He was a hobbit. He was to witness what happened and not interfere. Only, his companions were not getting along well with the trolls that had stolen half their ponies.
The dwarves, of course, had charged in to fight to get their mounts back. Bilbo was beyond fascinated with watching the way they fought together. It was almost as if they were one cohesive warrior rather than many.
The trolls still managed to snag one of them and forced the others to drop their weapons.
It was a bit disappointing, if Bilbo was honest. He’d been expecting their journey to last a bit longer than the wilds just on the other side of Bree.
“I wonder how long it’ll take another group of dwarves to attempt such a quest,” he muttered to himself as he crossed his arms.
“Oi!” One of the trolls called as it swung its head around to where Bilbo was standing. “Who’s there? Who said that?”
“What?” Another troll questioned him. “What are you going on about? No one said anything.”
“There was a voice,” the first insisted. “It was talking about more dwarves.”
Bilbo winced as he silently moved away from where he’d been standing. The last thing he wanted was for one of the trolls to accidentally smush him. “Drat and bother. Who knew their hearing was so good.”
“I heard it!” The third troll chimed in as he got to his feet. “I heard it over here!”
Bilbo froze. There was no way that they’d heard him the second time. He’d been so quiet.
The trolls got up from their spots and started crashing around in the woods near where Bilbo was hiding. They were determined to find the source of the voice. Why, he did not know.
Swallowing hard, Bilbo backed further into the trees. He really didn’t want to get caught by one of the trolls.
His foot hit a stick that cracked loudly in the night air.
“There!” A troll bellowed.
Bilbo swirled around on his feet and took off through the trees. He circled around, determined not to get too far from the dwarves and found Thorin struggling against the bag he’d been tied up in.
He stopped at the edge of the trees, not daring to enter the clearing where the dwarves and horses were penned up. Bilbo was only there to witness. He wasn’t supposed to help them.
The dwarves on the spit were beginning to whimper, especially the ones that had been left closer to the fire.
Thorin was working on escaping but he wasn’t moving quite fast enough.
Bilbo hovered at the edge of the trees before a particular bitten off cry of pain spurred him forward. He let himself be seen as he rushed to Thorin’s side and grabbed at the ties keeping him in the bag.
“Hurry,” Thorin urged as he went still to allow Bilbo to work. “Hurry, Master Hobbit.”
“I am,” Bilbo muttered back. “Almost got it.”
As soon as it was loose enough, Bilbo jumped back.
Thorin burst out of the sack and snatched a blade. He cut some of the others free before they rushed to help the dwarves over the fire.
“Shush,” Bilbo warned as he listened to the trolls run around the trees. “They have stupidly good hearing. Be quiet!”
Across the clearing, Bilbo caught sight of movement. His heart leapt to his throat until he realized that it was Gandalf. His sight of relief had him slumping almost all the way to the ground.
“What’s going on here?” Gandalf asked without the usual twinkle in his eye. “Bilbo?”
“Trolls,” Bilbo informed him as he watched the others gather their things. Some of the dwarves struggled back into their pants while the rest worked to get the ponies. “Three of them. They went off into the trees.”
“Odd,” Gandalf said as he stopped by Bilbo’s side. “What drew them off?”
Bilbo gulped before he shook his head.
Gandalf hummed as he looked down at the hobbit. “No matter. I shall deal with them. Make sure everyone returns safely to camp.”
Bilbo nodded at that.
It didn’t take long for Gandalf’s strong voice to echo through the trees. The squealing cries of the trolls followed shortly after it.
The sounds coming from the dark forest made Bilbo glad that Gandalf was one of the Maiar and did not require a hobbit to witness his actions as the Lady Vaire was already well aware of them. He shuddered to think of what life would be like for the hobbits if he wasn’t.
“Mister Boggins,” Kili greeted as Bilbo followed the last dwarf, Bofur, back to camp. “That was smart of you! Luring them off and helping us escape.”
“Oh, well,” Bilbo started and then stopped as some of the other dwarves turned to agree with Kili. “Yes, I, uh.”
“It was very clever,” Thorin rasped in his deep voice as he turned to pin Bilbo in place with his gaze. “I would hate to think of what would have happened if you weren’t here.”
Bilbo nodded weakly at that. He lifted his hand to grip over the spot on his chest where he knew his thread was. “I am glad that I get to witness their journey for at least a little bit longer.”
His words were stilted and unsure, though the dwarves didn’t seem to notice. He’d broken the rules. He’d interfered even if by accident. And he really needed to make sure it didn’t happen again.
XXX
“Run!” Thorin quietly shouted at them. The wargs and orcs were far enough away that his command did not carry to them. “Hurry!”
Bilbo huffed as he did his best to keep up with the others. He could, obviously, turn invisible and crouch down to hide. The only reason he hadn’t was because Gandalf kept turning around to check on him.
That and it would be such a pain to try and find the dwarves again later if they got separated.
“This way,” Gandalf called as he took off through the tall grass. “We must go this way!”
“Where is he leading us?” Gloin groaned as he made to follow the wizard. “We need cover!”
“This is stupid,” Dwalin grunted as he caught up to Thorin. “We should try to get back into the trees!”
Thorin frowned but urged them with a few gestures to keep following Gandalf. He waited until everyone had gone by him before he started running again. “Burglar,” he said softly to Bilbo as they went. “Do you know where he’s taking us?”
Bilbo sucked in a sharp gasp as he reminded his legs to keep moving. Why Thorin picked up calling him that, he wasn’t sure. He also wasn’t keen to ask. “I’ve not been here before,” he managed between pants. “I’ve only seen this area on maps.”
“And?”
“I don’t know,” Bilbo admitted as they kept running. Gandalf had them stop behind a giant pile of rocks to wait as Radagast led the party of orcs by their hiding spot. “But Gandalf is trustworthy. He wouldn’t lead us astray.”
Thorin huffed but nodded. “Fine,” he whispered to just Bilbo. “Then we’ll trust the wizard.”
XXX
“We shouldn’t have trusted the wizard,” Dwalin growled as he looked down the cliff at the elven city of Rivendell. “Fucking elves.”
The other dwarves muttered their agreement while Bilbo rolled his eyes. He’d had so few dealings with elves that he wasn’t sure if the dwarves’ view of them was well-founded or not. “At least we’re safe here,” he reminded them as he pushed forward. “Better here than running from those wargs.”
Dwalin grunted as he started down the path. “I don’t know about that.”
Bilbo chose to ignore him. His job was to witness what happened, not respond to it.
Lord Elrond’s arrival made the dwarves close ranks, which Bilbo appreciated since he didn’t particularly care to be trampled by a horse. Though it did make it rather hard for him to witness anything when all he could see was dwarven hair.
“And we have a hobbit with us,” Gandalf said as he leaned heavily on his staff.
Elrond’s eyebrows rose as he dismounted his horse. “Truly? This journey of yours is being witnessed?”
“As all are,” Gandalf confirmed.
“Excuse me!” Bilbo huffed as he shoved his way between Gloin and Oin. “Yes, thank you. I am meant to see things, you know.”
Elrond dropped to one knee before the hobbit. He lifted his right hand and hit his closed fist against his chest. “I am honored to have a witness in my halls.”
“I am honored to witness them,” Bilbo replied with a dip of his head. “Thank you for allowing us safe passage and a place to rest.”
Elrond nodded once before he got back to his feet. “Come, I am sure that you are hungry and tired. My home is open to you for as long as you need it.”
Bilbo sighed in relief and made to follow after the elf. He was surprised and annoyed when he realized that the dwarves were not following him. “What now?”
“They’re elves,” Kili hissed as he looked from their hobbit to the retreating elves and back. “We can’t trust them.”
Bilbo looked at them flatly before he turned on his heel and made to follow Gandalf.
“Master Hobbit,” Thorin called. “You are meant to witness us.”
“I am witnessing you,” Bilbo called back. “Being morons,” he whispered to himself.
Thorin watched him for another minute before he sighed. “Come on,” he said to the company.
“This is a mistake,” Balin said lowly as he stopped at Thorin’s side.
“Yes,” Thorin agreed. “But at least we’ll get a meal out of it.”
XXX
Bilbo wandered through Rivendell in awe. Sure, he was probably meant to be with the dwarves since they were his companions and other hobbits had already seen the beautiful elven city. He just couldn’t help himself. It was more beautiful than he’d thought possible.
“Are you enjoying your stay?” Elrond asked as he joined Bilbo on his walk. “Your companions have made their opinions on my hospitality well known, though I have yet to hear from you, Master Hobbit.”
“Bilbo is fine,” Bilbo replied as he tore his gaze away from a glittering waterfall to look at Lord Elrond. “And though they might not show it, my companions are grateful for the respite. Your home is very beautiful. I have never had the privilege to see such wondrous sights.”
Elrond made a noise as he sat on a bench so he could better speak to his guest. “I am pleased that you are here then, though I must confess that I am able to see that something is bothering you.”
Bilbo sighed before he looked back at his host. “I apologize.”
“I did not bring it up to chastise you,” Elrond assured him. “I only meant to offer my advice if you so desire it.”
Biting his lip, Bilbo looked off into the distance for a moment before he nodded his head. “I am a hobbit,” he started slowly. “And as a hobbit, I am meant to witness everything that goes on around me without interfering.”
“Such a daunting task,” Elrond replied with a frown.
“What do you mean?” Bilbo asked.
Elrond allowed himself a moment to gather his thoughts before he spoke. It was better to be sure of his meaning, especially when talking to one connected to the Lady Vaire. “You are alive,” he said at last. “And to live is to interact with the world around you.”
“I do,” Bilbo assured him. “I do things just as anyone else.”
“But you are to witness this journey,” Elrond said with a troubled look in his eyes. “And you feel as though you can only watch, correct?”
Bilbo ducked his head. “I might have accidentally interfered already,” he admitted. “I didn’t mean to! It just happened.”
“Peace, young hobbit,” Elrond said as he raised his hands. He had to make sure that he didn’t smile lest his guest believe him to be laughing at him. “To interact with the world is to live. You have done nothing wrong.”
Bilbo twisted his hands in his lap. “But I’m not meant to change the course of history. I am only meant to record it.”
“You are on this quest, Bilbo Baggins,” Elrond said in that way he had of making everyone younger than him feel their age difference. “As a member of their company, to journey with them, not just watch as they have an adventure.”
Dropping his chin, Bilbo covered his face with his hands. “Hobbits are meant to join quests like I have. I am doing this wrong.”
“Or,” Elrond said gently as he reached out to pull Bilbo’s hands away from his face, “You are witnessing something that has never been done before.”
Bilbo looked up at him at that. Maybe the elven lord was right. Maybe he was there to do more than watch the dwarves face their perils alone.
XXX
“There are things,” Bilbo muttered to himself as he shook his head after his long fall into the darkness, “that I really didn’t want to witness. Things I could have done without. The tapestry would be no less magnificent without them having happened to me.”
His words, though softly spoken, echoed in the depths of the cave that the goblin had knocked him into. They made him feel a bit better as he checked his arms and legs for injuries. The goblin was breathing heavily somewhere nearby him, most likely unconscious.
“Where is it, precious? We heard it speaking.”
Bilbo turned invisible without thought. He backed up a step as his heart sped up. He had talked to the cave to feel a bit braver. He had not expected the cave to talk back.
“Hiding,” a harsher voice responded. “Hiding, precious.”
“It can do what we do?” the first voice asked with a hint of awe in his tone. “It is like us?”
“Quiet!” the second voice demanded. “We must find it. The voice.”
“Yes! Yes!!” the first laughed. “And when we do! We’ll eats it!”
Bilbo bit his tongue hard enough to taste blood as he pressed harder against the cave wall. What creature could be lurking in such dark depths with the ability to hide in such a way that it recognized what Bilbo could do? He shuddered to think of it being a hobbit. There was only one other creature there besides the goblin. Bilbo could see it in the gloom. Both voices came from it.
“Carefully, carefully,” the first voice sang. “Check all the nooks and crannies.”
The second’s voice was harsher just due to the lack of his carefree attitude. “Find it we will, precious.”
Bilbo shifted up onto the tips of his toes. He sucked in his much diminished gut and turned his head so that he took up less space. Still, the creature came closer.
He was meant to safely witness things in the world and return to the Shire. He was meant to do as his Lady commanded and help her with her weaving. He was not meant to be eaten in the dark. His fate was not meant to be a mystery to all those who cared for him.
There was a tug in his chest, as though his Lady was attempting to guide him out of the situation and to safety. But his feet could not move to follow her directions.
“Oh!” the first voice gasped. “A goblins! Maybe that’s what we heard, precious! Maybe that’s who was talking!”
“Maybe,” the second voice replied with suspicion hinted in every letter. “A feast you wanted, precious. And a feast you shall have.”
Bilbo shoved his hands over his mouth to stop himself from gagging as whatever it was dove onto the goblin. They began to fight as the goblin woke up and realized the danger it was in.
Bilbo felt the tug again and, without care or thought, pushed away from the wall and ran.
XXX
“We cannot continue without him,” Gandalf all but shouted at the dwarves. “We will fail this quest without him.”
“Going back in there would be a death sentence,” Balin reasoned as the dwarves panted around him. “I’m sorry. Bilbo is lost to us.”
Bilbo had followed the guidance of his lady through the labyrinth of caves and caverns. He followed the pull up a ladder and out of a hole. Then he’d began to run across the mountainside. He was lucky that he’d found the company when he had, though it took him a moment to realize that they could not yet see him. He’d cast his magic and turned himself invisible as soon as he’d realized he wasn’t alone.
Thorin made a noise as he turned to look back at the mountain. “The sun will soon be setting and these hills will be covered in goblins.”
“And orcs,” Bofur added cheerfully. “They did send a messenger.”
Dori rolled his eyes at him when he caught Bofur’s gaze.
“Yes,” Thorin agreed. “But that means that the caverns will be far emptier. It would give us a chance to go back.”
“Thorin,” Balin warned. “You said before that we cannot risk this quest for the life of a single member.”
Thorin grimaced while his back was turned to the rest of the company. “We have come far since then, Balin.” He turned to face the rest of the company as the sun continued to sink lower in the sky. “And Gandalf is right. We need him.”
“Don’t,” Bilbo gasped as he turned himself visible once more, “go back in there! Something far worse than goblins lives in that mountain.”
Gandalf sighed in relief as he leaned wearily on his staff. “Bilbo,” he said in an attempt at chastisement, though it sounded far too endeared to do that. “Where have you been?”
“I fell,” Bilbo admitted as he rubbed at his shoulder. “But my Lady led me out and to safety.”
“Is there really something in there?” Kili asked as he turned to look back at the mountain. “Really?”
“It’ll eat you,” Bilbo warned as he started off down the mountain. “That’s what it did to the goblin that tackled me.”
“What?” Bombur called as he turned to follow Bilbo. “Eat me?”
“Burglar,” Thorin called as he crossed his arms over his chest. “Where are you going?”
“Away from here,” Bilbo called over his shoulder. “As far away as I can get tonight. And you lot are coming with me since I’m supposed to be witnessing your journey. So get moving!”
Thorin shook his head. He opened his mouth to say something else but howls cut the words off before they could make it out of his throat.
Several members of the company turned to look back at him with widened eyes.
“Run,” he uttered.
XXX
Bilbo clung to the tree branch, doing his best to find purchase to make sure he didn’t fall off the side of the cliff. He was sure their quest was at an end. There was nothing left for them to do. The wargs and orcs had them pinned. There was no escape.
The tree shifted as someone moved along it. Bilbo pulled himself up high enough to see that it was Thorin. “What,” he gasped as he watched Thorin start to run. “No.”
Scrambling harder, Bilbo heaved himself up higher. He needed to see. He needed to make sure that whatever Thorin was doing, he survived it. He had to see!
His toes found purchase. Bilbo heaved himself up his branch up onto the trunk. There was fire everywhere. Without meaning to, he turned himself invisible.
Wargs and orcs paced as a large one sitting atop an equally pale warg stared Thorin down. Thorin drew his sword and charged.
Bilbo gasped as Thorin was struck. His hands tightened into fists at his side as the warg’s teeth bit down and Thorin was thrown to the ground. He did not get back up.
Everything slowed around Bilbo as he could not tear his eyes away from the fallen king. Smoke filled his lungs, fire heated his skin, the calls of the dwarves in fright and anger rang in his ears along with the snarls and taunts of the orcs.
Slowly, Bilbo drew in a breath before he released it.
He was meant to witness.
He wasn’t supposed to interfere.
Thorin’s fate was to be seen, not changed.
Bilbo could not look away. An orc drew a crude sword and approached Thorin where he was bleeding onto the earth.
“Thorin,” Bilbo whispered into the chaos. “No.”
He had to watch. Bilbo could not look away. He had to watch as Thorin… As Thorin…
“No,” Bilbo said again with a bit more force behind the word. “No!”
He sprinted down the log unseen and threw himself in front of Thorin. The little sword that Thorin had given him so long ago was already in his hands, though Bilbo had sworn to himself when he’d taken it that he’d never use it. What need did a hobbit have for a weapon?
His sudden appearance before Thorin caused the orcs and wargs to flinch back. Even their leader.
Bilbo took the opportunity to thrust the pointy end of his sword into a warg. “No!” he shouted as he pulled back Sting and swung it around at the horrific creatures starting to creep back toward them. “I will not witness this and do nothing! I will not see this!”
“Move!” Azog snarled at him. “Or join his fate!”
Shaking and completely out of his depth, Bilbo turned his sword on the orc. “I will not witness this!”
The words had barely left his tongue as Dwalin and some of the other dwarves charged by him.
Bilbo heard the cry of the eagles and felt his body sag in relief. They weren’t alone. Their journey was not yet at an end.
XXX
“Where is he?” Thorin demanded as he got to his feet. “Where is the hobbit?”
Bilbo felt his heart stutter in his chest as Thorin swung around to look at him. He could not speak despite the way his mouth fell open.
“You!” Thorin demanded. “You are a hobbit! You are meant to turn invisible and stand somewhere safe! You are not meant to fight! What were you thinking?”
Bilbo winced before he let his eyes fall closed. What had he been thinking? He’d broken he rule. And not by accident.
“What was I thinking?” he asked quietly before he opened his eyes once more and met Thorin’s gaze. He could feel the heat in his eyes and knew that he would soon be blinking back tears. “What was I thinking?! I was thinking that I was about to witness your death! I was thinking that I could not imagine a worse thing to see! I was thinking that if you were going to die then I might as well die with you!”
There was a tug in his chest again. One that Bilbo knew he’d felt before. He also knew, as he stared into Thorin’s eyes, that it wasn’t a sign from his Lady Valar.
Thorin shrugged the hands off him as he staggered forward. “Gandalf told me that you had to be the fourteenth member of the company. He said we needed you.”
Bilbo clenched his jaw and did his best to hold off his frustrated tears for a bit longer. “I think-“
“He did not say!” Thorin all but yelled to cut off Bilbo’s words before he could speak them. “He did not say how much I would come to need you!”
Every thought he had fled his mind as Bilbo stood there in shock. “What?”
“You cannot put yourself in danger,” Thorin pleaded as he took another step toward Bilbo. “If you cannot bear it to witness my death then please know that I refuse to think of yours. Do not put yourself into danger needlessly, Bilbo.”
Bilbo blinked at that. He frowned ever so slightly as he looked back at Thorin. “Needlessly?” he asked as he took a small step forward. They were so close to one another and yet there was too great of a distance between them. “Saving your life will never be a needless thing.”
Thorin made a noise in the back of his throat before he finally reached out and pulled Bilbo into his arms. To his great relief, the hobbit went willingly. “We will talk more about this later,” Thorin promised him.
Bilbo pressed further into his arms and sent a silent plea to this Lady to forgive him for he could no longer stand in the shadows. Whatever fate they had, whatever destiny had started to be woven for them and their quest, Bilbo would see it changed.
XXX
“So,” Bofur said happily as he dropped to sit down by Bilbo in the flower-filled fields outside of Beorn’s massive house. “You and Thorin are working things out, yeah?”
Bilbo felt heat rush to his cheeks. He kept his gaze on the stem of a long piece of grass as he twisted it without pulling it from the ground. “Trying to,” he admitted after a moment of silence.
“Huh,” Bofur said before he finally met Bilbo’s gaze. He shrugged at the hobbit as a devious grin stole its way onto his lips. “Only I’m confused.”
“About what?” Bilbo asked wearily as he watched the dwarf practically leer at him. “What are you talking about?”
“I thought hobbits just liked to watch.”
Frowning, Bilbo bit his tongue. He was a hobbit and they were to witness history as it happened, but he had the feeling that was not what Bofur was talking about.
By the time he looked up, the dwarf was backing away while laughing at him. He made a crude sign with his hands that had Bilbo flushing a deep red.
Spluttering, Bilbo turned his back on the dwarf as Bofur continued to cackle at him. Such behavior did not deserve his attention. He was going to have to make a note, Bilbo thought as his ears burned, to make sure his Lady Vaire missed that stitch.
XXX
From the rotting trees and giant spiders to the elves of Mirkwood taking the dwarves as prisoners, Bilbo bore witness. He stayed close enough to Thorin’s side to make sure the dwarf knew that he was there while maintaining his magic to remain unseen by the elves. They were not like the residents of Rivendell.
He and Thorin were separated from the others as they were taken further into the elven city. Thorin, and Bilbo because he would not leave Thorin’s side, was taken along a different path. One that led through the trees and into an ornate throne room.
An elf, one that was both beautiful and menacing, lounged upon his throne. He started to speak before Bilbo started to listen. Thorin’s deep voice sounded from beside him but Bilbo couldn’t focus on what he was saying. He was much too distracted by the tug he felt in his chest. He looked at Thorin, unseen by everyone in the room, and felt the same pull he’d felt before.
Then he looked at Thranduil and he felt a different sort of tug. His mouth fell open and his eyes widened as he looked down at his chest. The thread that connected him to his Lady was vibrant. He felt another pull and looked back up at the elf sneering at his dwarf.
Bilbo nodded once to himself as he clenched his hands. He stepped forward in front of Thorin, directly into the elf’s line of sight, and then appeared. “I am here to witness,” he said sharply.
Thranduil, cut off mid-word, took a small step back. “Where did you come from?”
“I am a hobbit,” Bilbo said as he tried to stay calm. “And I am here to witness.”
Thranduil’s gaze turned more curious as he leaned forward once more. “A hobbit? I’ve never met a hobbit before.”
“And yet,” Bilbo all but spat, “we have witnessed you.”
“Have you?” Thranduil asked in amusement. “Did you enjoy your time skulking in the shadows?”
“As you speak,” Bilbo said with a huff. “As you speak, my Lady weaves every word that you say. What shall the tapestries of history say about you, Thranduil, lord of the wood that was once green?”
Thranduil lifted his brows as he backed up to sit on his throne. “Shall you report all of my words and deeds to your Lady Valar, little hobbit?”
The corner of Bilbo’s lips ticked up into a little smirk. “Report?” he asked as he spread his hands wide. “No, I have no need to make reports. I am a hobbit.”
“So you said,” Thranduil said with a bored tint in his words. “You witness.”
Bilbo’s smirk grew as he lifted his hands out and tipped back his head. He called on his magic to allow them to see what he usually could. A thick thread of light protruded from his chest. It dropped to the floor and sank down into the earth. It was his connection to his Lady. It was his part of the tapestry. “I am the thread that my Lady weaves,” he called out in a loud voice. “Through me, My Lady Vaire sees all! Through me, history is wrought!”
Thranduil dropped off his throne and onto his knees. He could not tear his eyes away even as Bilbo let his magic begin to fade. “Forgive me,” he managed. “I did not understand.”
“I ask you again, Lord of the Mirkwood. What would you like my Lady’s tapestries to say about you?”
Thranduil blinked slowly before he rose to his feet. “Release them,” he called to the guards in the hall. “See them off with supplies. Let them be gone.”
Bilbo dipped his head into a bow before he called upon his magic to make him invisible once more.
It wouldn’t do, after all, for Thranduil to see him shake after such an impressive display.
XXX
“So you are a hobbit,” Bard said as he leaned against the frame of a door. “I’ve heard tales about hobbits. My Da used to tell me the stories from his father and his father before him about hobbits in Dale.”
Bilbo nodded as he swung his legs. The chair that he was sitting on was much too big for him but he wasn’t about to move. “I have relatives who have been this far east. It is a pleasure to meet you, Bard.”
“They say that wherever hobbits go, great things happen,” Bard continued without moving. “Are you here to make something great happen?”
Bilbo shook his head as he smiled. “No, Bard. I’m here to witness it.”
XXX
“Burglar,” Thorin said as he reached out for Bilbo’s hand. “I don’t want you to go.”
“You cannot call me by the title you hired me under,” Bilbo said with a playful roll of his eyes, “while you tell me that you don’t want me to complete that job.”
“Bilbo,” Thorin murmured as he pulled the hobbit closer to him. “Please.”
“I must,” Bilbo said as he reached up to brush a strand of hair back from Thorin’s face. “I must go into the mountain. Long has Smaug slept there. Long has he gone unbothered. I am a hobbit, Thorin. I must witness what he has done.”
“Is there truly no other way,” Thorin all but pleaded.
Bilbo smiled sadly as he cupped Thorin’s cheek. “There is not. You know this.”
Thorin ducked his head. “Please,” he said softly. “Please, return to me.”
“There are many things,” Bilbo told him as he lifted Thorin’s chin to meet his gaze. “Many things that I would like to witness before my Lady calls me home.”
Thorin searched his gaze for a moment before he pulled Bilbo to him. Their lips touched in a chaste kiss before Thorin pushed him away. “Go,” he said hoarsely. “Go or I will not be able to let you.”
Bilbo looked at him for a moment before he turned and stepped into the mountain through the secret door. He lifted his fingers to his still tingling lips as he entered the darkness.
XXX
At the edge of a massive platform, Bilbo stopped to stare. He was there to bear witness. He just hadn’t expected all the gold that he could see.
The company had asked him to enter the mountain and use his magic to sneak past Smaug in order to find one gem. One singular gem that they could use to unite the dwarven clans and march on Smaug to retake the mountain.
Standing there, before the sea of wealth that the dwarves had accumulated, Bilbo realized how foolish they’d been. Finding a particular gem in all that he could see would be impossible.
“Well,” Bilbo said as he planted his hands on his hips. “It’s a good thing I never intended to look for that blasted gem.”
With a little trepidation, he walked toward the edge of the platform. “Smaug,” he called. There was a slight waver in his voice. Bilbo coughed politely into his hand before he tried again. “Smaug! I am here to bear witness!”
Slowly and then all at once, the gems and gold began to move. A massive landslide of wealth careened past where Bilbo stood, making him glad that he had not ventured down from his perch. In the distance, he saw a mighty head raise from its bed.
Without meaning to, Bilbo turned invisible.
“I hear you,” Smaug hissed lowly as he turned his head and blinked his great eyes. “You said that you came to see me, and yet, I cannot see you.”
“What need do you have to see me?” Bilbo cried as he moved from where he’d been standing to work out some of his jitters. “I am no one compared to you.”
Smaug’s eyes focused in on the general area Bilbo was hiding in. “So you can move unseen if you wish. Show yourself lest I think you’re a thief hiding in the shadows.”
“I am no thief,” Bilbo called before he moved again. “I am a hobbit and I am here to witness.”
“A hobbit?” Smaug asked in amusement. “I’ve not seen nor tasted a hobbit in many years.”
Bilbo swallowed hard but stayed where he was. “And he wants to know why I’m invisible,” he muttered to himself.
Smaug chuckled from his throat as he slithered a little closer to where he knew Bilbo was. “And what did you come to witness, little hobbit? Have you heard the tales of my majesty?”
Bilbo shuffled his feet and smacked his hands against his thighs. “I have!” he called once he realized that he’d been taking too long to answer. “I am here to behold you and what a sight you make.”
Smaug puffed up as if to show off. “Your words flatter me but you are a liar!”
“I do not lie!” Bilbo argued. “What need do I have to lie to you?”
“I can smell them, you know,” Smaug taunted. “The dwarves that you traveled here with. Their stench is all over you. They sent you in to see if I live. Well, here I am!”
“That’s not why I’m here!” Bilbo tried again. “I am here to-“
“You’ve said,” Smaug barked. “You claim that you will bear witness. I will give you something to see. I will show you something you’ve never seen before. Something you will never forget.”
Bilbo swallowed hard as he shook his head. It did not matter to him that Smaug could not see him. “I don’t know of any dwarves. I only came to see you.”
“Another lie,” Smaug roared. “Shall I burn all of Laketown, too? Those men have grown too confident in the mountain’s shadow. Yes, I shall give you something to see. You have traveled so far, after all.”
Just as he’d turned invisible, Bilbo became visible once more. He only stuttered in his steps forward once he realized that Smaug’s huge eye was trained on him. “I care not for dwarves or for Laketown! It is your stupendous might that I came to see!”
Smaug looked back at him before he snorted a cloud of dark smoke into the treasure chamber. “Another lie. Let me tell you a truth, little hobbit. You will bear witness. I will leave you alive to see what destruction I wreak. You will be unable to look away as the dwarves fall to madness, one at a time. The same madness that created this hoard for me. Thorin Oakenshield will fall.”
Bilbo, as if waking from a trance at the sound of Thorin’s name, backed up and shook his head. “I don’t know who you speak of!”
“Don’t you?” Smaug taunted as he stretched out his wings. “Maybe I should show you.”
Bilbo was powerless to stop the mighty dragon as he took off from the mountain and disappeared into the night. There was little he could do but follow him to the gates. There he fell to his knees and watched as Laketown burned until Smaug was finally shot out of the sky.
XXX
He did not want them to be true but Smaug’s words rang in his ears as he watched his dwarves begin to act differently. It started with Gloin and Nori. But all too soon, the others were behaving just as oddly.
“Thorin,” Bilbo tried as he stood next to the dwarf on another one of the great platforms while the other members of the company searched for the stone they had sent him in to find. “Come take a break. Let the lads have a rest.”
“No,” Thorin muttered as his eyes continued to sweep around the room. “I must find it. I must have it. Where is it?”
“Thorin,” Bilbo tried again. He knew that his heartbreak was in his voice. “I didn’t want him to be right.”
“Who?” Thorin questioned without looking away from the glittering gold. “It doesn’t matter. Nothing matters except for the Arkenstone.”
Bilbo winced as he closed his eyes. A tear fell down his cheek. The tugging in his chest that only Thorin could make him feel turned painful. “Smaug,” Bilbo told him despite Thorin’s words. “Smaug said you would fall to madness and that I would be forced to watch it.”
“A serpent,” Thorin said in that same maddening mutter. “You listen to the twisted words of a worm. Foolish.”
“Maybe I am,” Bilbo said as another tear fell. “Maybe I am foolish. I followed you, didn’t I?” As he spoke, his words grew louder and louder. “I followed you! I bore witness to your many trials along this journey! I followed you to the end! And what a bitter end it is! For you are not yourself, Thorin! You have fallen into madness!”
“Madness,” Thorin scoffed. “What does he know of madness? Nothing. He knows nothing.”
Bilbo clenched his hands into fists before he stomped around to stand in front of Thorin. The dwarf’s eyes continued to move, though Bilbo knew that he saw him, if only because a small furrow developed between his brows. “I know that you are losing yourself to this search,” Bilbo said firmly. He reached out and snagged Thorin’s head and forced him to meet his gaze. “And I also know that I will not watch you become this shadow of yourself. You are sick, Thorin. Come out of the mountain.”
Thorin searched his eyes for a moment before he jerked his head back. “No.”
Drooping, Bilbo turned away from the dwarven king. “I am a hobbit,” he said to the entire treasure room. Whether the other dwarves heard him or not, he spoke. “And I am to bear witness to history for my Lady. But I refuse. I refuse to watch you do this to yourselves.”
At that, he turned back to Thorin. The king was watching him from a few feet away with a dark gaze. “I love you,” Bilbo told him. “I love you but I will not watch you do this.”
Between one breath and the next, Bilbo made himself invisible. A couple of his dwarves called out in shock at his sudden disappearance but he didn’t pay them any attention. He knew where the Arkenstone had fallen during his conversation with Smaug.
Rather than retrieving it, he left it to rot. What need did he have of a stone?
XXX
“We need Thorin,” Gandalf insisted. He was tired from his journey. His weariness was clear in his disgruntled appearance. “The army that is coming will slaughter us all. We need the protection of the mountain.”
“He has fallen,” Bilbo told them as he became visible in the middle of the tent. “Smaug warned me that he would succumb to the madness that plagued his line. And he has.”
“Bilbo,” Gandalf said in relief as he sagged a bit more. “There you are.”
“So,” Thranduil said as he sat forward in his chair. “You could not shame him to do as you wanted?”
“No,” Bilbo said as he cocked his head to the side. “He’s not like you.”
Gandalf sighed as Bard turned a chuckle into a cough.
Thranduil eyed the hobbit for a moment before he sighed. “We will survive this fight,” he told everyone in the tent without looking away from Bilbo. “And I will make sure that you live to see it.”
Bilbo dipped his head to the elven lord before he turned back to Gandalf. “Tell me everything that is happening and everything that has happened since we separated.”
“For that,” Gandalf said with a weary sigh, “I believe I will need something to drink.”
XXX
Out of all of the horrors that he’d been made to see during their journey, nothing had prepared Bilbo for the battle. There was little that he could do except keep his sword in his hand and keep swinging it as tears clouded his vision. More and more dwarves, elves, and men died around him. And he could do nothing but see it.
“How,” Bilbo whispered as he stopped for a moment to take in all the death. “How do I live through something like this and keep going?”
As if to answer him, a loud boom came from the mountain. He barely managed to wipe the tears from his face as he turned to see the gate smash outwards and his dwarves come charging out to join the fight.
Bilbo’s breath hitched in his chest as a familiar tug he had not felt in far too long drew his attention to one dwarf in particular. Thorin led the charge. The company, though their numbers were few, cut a path through the orcs, giving respite to their allies.
A fresh wave of tears overtook Bilbo. He stood sniffling on the battlefield as he watched Thorin change the tide of the battle. Pulled as he was, Bilbo staggered forward toward his dwarf. “Thorin,” he called in a voice that he could barely hear over the sounds of the battle. “Thorin!”
Bilbo knew that Thorin was too far away to hear him. He knew, but he did not stop calling out to him. He didn’t stop until a couple of trolls caught sight of him and charged him.
Between one blink and the next, Bilbo was gone. He was invisible to all as he darted through the battlefield with renewed energy. He had to get to Thorin. He needed to look into his eyes and see his dwarf looking back at him.
As he ran, Bilbo continued to use his sword, slicing at thighs and ankles as he charged through the fray. Thorin, if he was looking for Bilbo, did not know where he was. He was all that Bilbo could see as he kept going.
XXX
“Thorin,” Bilbo gasped as he allowed himself to be seen. He staggered tiredly down the last few stairs but smiled as Thorin and Dwalin turned to look at him. “There you are.”
“Bilbo,” Thorin whispered as he took in the sight of their bloodied hobbit. “Are you okay?”
“Yes,” Bilbo assured him as he took another step forward. “I saw you come out of the mountain. Are you okay?”
“I am now,” Thorin replied. His gaze did not leave Bilbo. “Your words took a little while to sink in but I heard them. I heard them and they broke the spell.”
Bilbo sagged in relief. “Thank the Valar,” he muttered. “Where are the boys? I saw Fili and Kili come up here with you?”
“Scouting,” Dwalin grunted as he turned back to the tower. “We need to find Azog.”
Following Dwalin’s gaze, Bilbo looked at the tower and immediately felt a despair so powerful it almost took him to his knees. “No,” he breathed as he stumbled forward. “No! Get them out! Get them out of there!”
“What?” Dwalin scoffed as he turned back. “It’s too late for that. They’ve already gone in.”
Bilbo shook his head as he couldn’t look away. “No! Kili! Fili! No!”
“Bilbo,” Thorin asked with a tinge of fear in his words. “What’s wrong?”
“I don’t know,” Bilbo admitted. “I don’t know but I do know they can’t go in there.”
“Going after them could put them in danger,” Dwalin pointed out as he met Thorin’s gaze. “The more of us in there, the less sneaky we’ll be.”
Thorin frowned but nodded back.
“It has to be me,” Bilbo realized as he took another step forward. The thread that connected him to his Lady Vaire, the same one she tugged on to pull her hobbits in the right direction, was all but dragging him to the tower. “I must go in there.”
“Bilbo,” Thorin said as he turned back to him. “It’s too dangerous.”
Bilbo didn’t look away from the gaping maw of the door. He couldn’t. “There is something,” he managed. “Something that I must witness.”
“No,” Thorin tried again. “Don’t.”
But Bilbo was gone. Invisible and running. He had to go and he didn’t have much time.
He ducked through the doorway and took the stairs at a run. He’d been out of breath and knew once the battle was over that he wouldn’t want to move for days. And yet, he ran. He ran without knowing where he was going or what he’d find once he got there.
He found Kili first. The younger of the princes was scared and attempting to carry out his uncle’s orders.
Bilbo appeared to him with raised hands. “Kili,” he whispered. “The way behind me is clear. Return to Thorin and Dwalin.”
“Bilbo,” Kili sighed in relief as he reached out to rest his hands on Bilbo’s shoulders. “I’m so sorry about the-“
“There isn’t time now,” Bilbo told him as he pointed back the way he’d come. “Go.”
“But Fili,” Kili tried again.
“I will get him,” Bilbo said as he felt the need to keep going. “Get out of this tower!”
Kili reached for him but Bilbo was gone before he could touch him. He wanted to stay and make sure that Kili listened to him but he couldn’t. His Valar was commanding him onward and Bilbo could not refuse her.
Through the tower, he continued to run. Up and up, he climbed until at last he stopped at the base of a ladder. The only other place it led was up onto the roof of the tower. He knew, even before he touched the bottom rung, that he would find what he was supposed to see there.
Invisible and trembling, Bilbo climbed. He made his way out onto the top and had to cover his mouth to stop himself from gasping at the sight of Fili in the hands of the orcs.
“The line of Durin,” Azog sneered over the edge and down at Thorin. “I will end it!”
Bilbo inched closer. He glanced down and felt his chest lighten at the sight of Kili with Dwalin and Thorin.
“I will start with this one!” Azog bellowed at them, sure of his safety with only his orcs behind him. “Then I will kill you!”
His Lady had brought him here. Bilbo was meant to be on the tower, but he could not stand by and watch as Fili was killed. He couldn’t.
“There has been too much death today,” Bilbo said softly to the wind. “I cannot bear to see any more.”
One of the orcs holding Fili shifted, as if it heard his words.
Bilbo silently pulled Sting from the sheath at his waist. “I am a hobbit,” he said more firmly as he took a step forward. “I am to witness history as it is being made. I am to watch but never interfere.”
Fili lifted his head at the sound of Bilbo’s voice. His eyes were huge as he searched the top of the tower. “No,” he breathed.
“But I am alive,” Bilbo said before he appeared next to the orc on Fili’s right. He ran Sting through the creature’s chest and watched as it fell back. Fili used the opportunity to snag a hidden blade from his jacket and killed the other orc.
“I am alive,” Bilbo continued as he and Fili stood together and faced Azog. “And I choose to fight for the future that I want.”
Together, they charged.
XXX
Thorin stopped in the doorway of the secret door that they’d opened many months before. Bilbo often enjoyed spending his evenings there to watch as the sun set.
“Come and join me, Thorin,” Bilbo called without turning around. “The colors in the sky tonight are especially vibrant.”
Thorin was powerless to do anything other than obey. Once he was settled at Bilbo’s side, he took the hobbit’s hand into his and pressed a kiss to it. “And what marvels is my hobbit bearing witness to tonight?”
“After spending much of my day witnessing the foolishness of dwarves, I enjoy the respite of a beautiful sunset,” Bilbo teased.
“Hobbits,” Thorin muttered as he teased Bilbo back. “They’re always so focused on the past.”
Bilbo huffed as he tried not to laugh. He was so very glad that he and Thorin were comfortable enough with each other to speak as they did. “I would say that we’re more concerned with the present, since he must watch it.”
Thorin hummed. He shifted closer to Bilbo and wrapped his arm around him as they watched the moon rise. “Does the future hold no interest to you then?”
“The future,” Bilbo questioned as he leaned his head against Thorin’s shoulder. “No, the future is the most exciting one of all.”
“Truly?” Thorin couldn’t help but ask. At Bilbo’s nod, he sighed. “Why?”
“Because,” Bilbo said with a smile. “It is unwoven. Every choice we have yet to make can add wonderful colors to my Lady’s work.”
“The past does hold many dark spots,” Thorin agreed as he tightened his hold on Bilbo at the thought of them. “I am glad that we’re past them.”
“Yes,” Bilbo sighed as he melted into Thorin’s hold. “Our future is looking quite bright. I can’t wait to find out what it holds.”
“As long as I’m with you,” Thorin whispered against Bilbo’s curls. “It’ll be a future worth living.”
Bilbo didn’t need the tug he felt in his chest to tell him he agreed. “You’ll have me,” Bilbo promised him without lifting his head. “Someone has to stick around to make sure you know when you’ve done something ridiculous.”
Thorin laughed but didn’t argue as they settled in to watch the night. Bilbo was right, and Thorin would tell him that as often as he could. Thorin needed him to stay, not to witness any grand events or important deeds, but because Thorin loved him and didn’t want to live another day without him.
With a smile on his lips and his hobbit in his arms, Thorin swore to the Lady Vaire that he would do his best to make sure that their future was full of color and love. With Bilbo by his side, he knew it couldn’t be anything else.