CHAPTER 1
THE SHIRE

　
YGRITTE had never been to the Shire before, so when she was given the opportunity to work alongside her father on a very special quest to the Lonely Mountain, she was quite ecstatic to finally get to see where Hobbits live.

The Shire was peaceful. In the moonlight, she was able to see the many stars, the moon, and even hear the tiny bugs chirp in the night. She imagined it was always this peaceful.

"Come along, Ygritte," her father said from ahead of her. Gandalf was his name, and he was known for his powers. Many loved the firework display he could put on. Ygritte loved them as well, especially in her younger years of life when she was but a child. Her father would conjure up the biggest and brightest fireworks just for her.

Ygritte gave her father a sheepish grin and jogged to catch up with his surprising long strides. "Is it always this peaceful here?" She asked.

Gandalf smiled. Much like her mother, his late wife, Ygritte had a passion for adventure. She sought it wherever she traveled. When he proposed the quest to her, he was surprised when that she has yet to see The Shire. He thought, with her love for adventure, she would have surely of visited it already. Nevertheless, he was happy he would be occompaining her during her first visit.

As soon as Ygritte became a young woman, she had left their home, looking for adventure. She was never one that could keep still in the first place, so Gandalf allowed her to live her life. She visited, of course, but he hadn't seen her in weeks. He was thankful she agreed to join the Company.

"Yes, I would say it is," Gandalf replied.

"So," Ygritte said as she clapped her hands together in excitement for a brand new adventure. "We are here to recruit a hobbit, that is obvious, but will everyone else be joining us?"

She got her answer just as they climbed the hill. Outside the home of Bilbo Baggins were many dwarves, and they all perked up and smiled as Ygritte and her father approached them.

"Nevermind," she muttered.

"Gandalf! About time!" Exclaimed one of the dwarves, as he threw his hands up in the air in exhasberation.

Ygritte raised an eyebrow at the group. She glanced up at the door where a glowing mark was carved in the wood before gesturing to it with her hand. "I don't think you had to wait for us in order to go in."

"Gandalf," said one of the other dwarves. "Who's the pretty lass?"

Ygritte smiled at the compliment, whilst her father answered the question asked. "The pretty lass is my daughter, and she will be joining us on this quest."

"Name's Ygritte," she said with a polite smile.

They stared at her in bewilderment before breaking out into small fits of laughter. "What can a woman do for the company?"

Ygritte's polite smile dropped. She stalked forward with anger and annoyance in veins and held up her hands before one of their pipes. With a few whispers and a shake of her finger tips, the pipe lit with a crackle of sparked fire. She stepped back, a smirk tugging it's way onto her lips.

"If you will excuse me, I believe we a Hobbit to recruit," she said, before shoving her way past the dwarves and moving through the gate.

She could hear her father speaking with the group of chattering dwarves as she walked up toward the round green door. The home was small and covered with moss, but nevertheless, it looked extremly comfortable to live within. After glancing at the mark made by her father, she knocked thrice.

From the other side of the door, she could hear an angered voice shout, "Oh no. No, no! There's nobody home. Go away, and bother somebody else. There's far too many dwarves in my dining room as it is. If­ if­ If this is some clotterd's idea of a joke," the person ─ who was obviously a man; Bilbo Baggins most likely ─ said with a humorless laugh. "I can only say, it is in very poor taste."

The door then opened and Ygritte was faced with the face of a man with shaggy brown hair. With a glance at his feet she knew he was the hobbit named Bilbo Baggins. Instantly, his eyes widened and he fixed his maroon robe whilst straightening his spine. By the looks of his facial expression, he was certainly not expecting a woman to be arriving on his doorstep.

Bilbo cleared his throat before speaking. "Um, hello. May I help you miss?"

"Are you Bilbo Baggins?" Ygritte asked, wanting to confirm his identity.

"I am, yes."

Ygritte ducked inside his home and turned to him with an outstretched hand. "Yrgitte, it is a pleasure to meet you Mr. Baggins."

Bilbo hesitated before shaking her hand. "As it is you." His expression turned from kind to confusion in that moment. "I'm sorry, but may I ask why you are here Miss Ygritte?"

"Just Ygritte is fine," she replied as she looked around his home. Cozy, she thought with a smile. "Quite a lovely home you have here."

"Thank you," he said.

Just then, Gandalf and the other group of dwarves arrived at the door. Bilbo's attention was turned to them, and the hobbit let out a sigh as he stared at even more dwarves.

"Gandalf," Bilbo said.

The wizard offered the hobbit a smile as he ducked inside the tiny doorway of the hobbit hole. The dwarves were quick to make their way through the house and into the kitchen. This left Bilbo alone with Gandalf and Ygritte.

"I see you have already met my daughter," Gandalf said as he removed his hat and placed his staff against the wall.

Bilbo's eyes widened. He certainly wasn't expecting Gandalf to have a daughter.

Ygritte gave the hobbit a smile after noticing his expression. "Many are surprised to hear I am his daughter. Is the kitchen through here?"

After receiving an answer, Ygritte began moving down the hall toward the loudness of the dwarves. In the kitchen, she discovered all twelve dwarves moving about in a hurry, all carrying a variety of food.

Her eyebrows shot up from the amount of food the dwarves were taking from the hobbits pantry. She knew dwarves had large appetites, but she didn't think they would just be raiding the poor hobbits pantry like they were. Perhaps he gave them permission, she thought.

"Those are my plates!" Exclaimed Bilbo from behind her. Or perhaps not, she thought as she bit her lip.

She wanted as Bilbo then turned toward where one of the dwarves were in the pantry. "Excuse me! Not my wine. Put that back. Put that back! Not the jam, please!"

Ygritte sighed. There was no use in telling the dwarves to stop now when they already had most of the pantry food in the dining area. She decided to find herself a place to sit until they decided to begin the meeting. She brushed past her father and headed into the dining area, where she was then stopped by one of the dwarves.

"Excuse me, Miss, can I tempt you with a nice cup of chamomile tea?"

Ygritte have the white haired dwarf a smile. "That would be lovely, thank you..."

"Dori."

"Dori, thank you." Ygritte took the cup of tea from the white haired dwarf before offering up her name to him, as she didn't recognise him from the group of dwarves her and her father ran into outside.

"Lovely name," Dori said.

"Thank you," Ygritte said in response to the compliment given to her.

Not long after Yrgitte was given her chamomile tea, they all settled into the dining room, where the dwarves now have a grand feast spread out. Ygritte was pretty sure every ounce of food from the pantry was on the table.

She was surprised to see there was someone else other than her, her father and Bilbo, a hobbit, within the home. Sat at the table was another female. She, like Ygritte, had blonde hair and striking blue eyes. She must be Aninth, Ygritte thought. Beforehand, Yrgitte was told by her father another woman be joining the quest as well. Ygritte's eyebrows then shot up when she spotted the tiny dragon that was wrapped around her neck. Her father only mentioned another female, not that she would be the owner of a dragon. Instantly, her adventurous heart was racing with the thought of getting to know someone with a dragon

Yrgitte liked meeting other woman that also enjoyed the way of combat like her, others only cared about dresses and being married with thousands of babies. Ygritte much preferred adventure, especially when she was able to fight with her sword or dagger. She was quite skilled with both. Many men have discovered said skills when trying to grope her in their drunken state at the tavern she was in.

Food was being thrown everywhere. Ygritte would occasionally have to move out of the way when something was being thrown toward the dwarf seated on her left. They were so loud, and quite rude as well. Bilbo didn't seem at all pleased with their manners, and she didn't blame him at all. If she had a home as nice and cozy as Bilbo's, she would be furious if someone barged inside and began to take all her food before sloppily eating it right infront of her. They would, without a doubt, meet her sword or dagger.

"Bombur, catch!" Said dwarf then caught the food thrown to him in his mouth, causing everyone to cheer. Yrgitte was all for combat and blood, but the way the dwarves around her were eating made her wrinkle her nose in disgust. She no longer had an appetite of her own.

A long haired dwarf then suddenly climbed up onto the table. In his hands were several cups of ale. On his way down the table, his feet began kicking aside aside the food that was in his way, including Ygritte's plate, which she had to catch with her hand before it would spill all over her pants.

"Who wants an ale?" He asked. "There you go."

"Let him have another drink!"

"Here you go." He began pouring some ale into their cups. One of them even poured some ale into the hearing trumpet of another. When he pulled away his hearing trumpet and brought it to his mouth, he blew the ale out of it, making it squeal and the ale to squirt all over the place.

Yrgitte grimaced. She desperately wanted to leave the table. She couldn't imagine dining with dwarves every night. She was thankful they would have a limited amount of food whilst on their journey so she wouldn't have to endure another feast with them.

One of the dwarves then yelled, "On the count of three!" and the dwarves pound their tankards together. The room, for the first time since Ygritte's arrival, fell silent as they began gulping down their ale in large gulps. Not-so-surprising at all, they were incredibly messy. Ale fell all over their faces and ran down their beards, it even stained their shirts even further.

When finished drinking, they began burping; the youngest, or at Ygritte assumed was the youngest, let out the biggest burp of them all. The dwarves laughter got ever louder as Ygritte grimaced and turned toward her father.

Quietly, she whispered, "When will Thorin be arriving?"

Gandalf heaved a sigh as he glanced down at his daughter. "With dwarves, you never know."

Ygritte sighed and turned back toward the messy dwarves. "Wonderful," she muttered underneath her breath.