Returning Home: A Hobbit Fanfiction

Chapter 8 - Revelations

~~Elena~~

In the silence that followed Kíli's remark, Elena could see Thorin's instant deadpan expression as he raised an eyebrow at his nephew - and she allowed herself a moment to fangirl at seeing him in the flesh. Pulling down her own hood, she shook her short brown hair free with a laugh. 

"Looks like they're onto us, Cel!" 

Shaking off her own surprise, Celia replied, "Looks like! Guess there's nothing left to do but introduce ourselves." 

Grinning, Elena said, "Elena." 

Celia joined in, "And Celia,"

"At your service," they finished together with a bow, making Bilbo roll his eyes at their theatrics.

"Gandalf," Thorin growled after a moment of stunned silence. "What is this?" 

"I'm afraid that I'm not too sure myself, at the moment, Thorin," Gandalf said. "Perhaps Bilbo could explain, as he appears to know these two young ladies?" 

Bilbo shook his head at the girls. "I'm afraid I do know these two young reprobates," he said with a sigh. "I found them lost and alone in the woods nearby about a year and a half ago. After getting them patched up, I sent word to Ered Luin, to try and contact their kin, but we'd pretty much abandoned hope for a response from there until you lot showed up," he finished, ignoring the confused frowns his explanation caused. 

After a moment, Balin stepped forward hesitantly. "If I may, why would you need to send word to Ered Luin? The two lasses are hobbits, are they not?"

Elena snorted, holding up her booted foot. "Do we look like hobbits to you?" she demanded. 

Balin's eyes widened. "Dwarrowdams in the Shire?" he breathed. 

"Say what?" Celia asked, furrowing her brow.

"Dwarrowdam is the dwarven term for a female dwarf," Gandalf said, raising his eyebrows. "But surely you would already be aware of that?"

Celia shrugged. "It's a bit of a long story." 

"Then perhaps you may tell us over dinner, as a few of our party have not eaten yet," Gandalf suggested. "I, for one, would be interested to hear how two young dwarrowdams became lost in the Shire, far from any of their kin."

"And I as well," Thorin added, eyeing the girls speculatively.

Bilbo crossed his arms. "Well, I would like to know what you two are doing home so late. Your shift should have ended this morning!" 

"Shift?" Balin inquired as they walked to the dining room. 

"Oh, Celia and I help sometimes with the Bounders," Elena said. Seeing Balin frown, she continued. "Bounders are sort of like the Shire's version of guards. Now, obviously, we have the Rangers patrolling the borders of the Shire, and they help out with some of the bigger problems, but for the most part, the Bounders are the ones who keep the peace, and keep an eye on the borders of the Shire.

"That's partially why we're late," she added as an aside to Bilbo. "Folco brought news of a large, armed party of men near the borders of the Shire early this morning, and we had to check it out. Unfortunately, he somehow completely got the directions wrong, and we spent half an hour traveling in the wrong direction before he figured it out. Then we had to figure out what the men wanted, while most of the group hung back and kept watch in case of trouble."

"What did they want?" Bilbo asked, pouring some soup into bowls for Thorin, Elena, and Celia.

Elena snorted. "They claimed they were 'lost'. Ha! This close to the Shire? Nah, they had something else in mind, we just didn't know what. So we had a couple Bounders trail them while we went off to tell the Rangers to keep an eye on them, just in case. The rest went off to warn the rest of the Bounders."