Prompt for this imagine: "Where has that bloody sheep went off to?"

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Bilbo's eyes opened and the first thing that he saw that morning was a giant bee sitting on his nose. "Goodmorning, are we going to do this every morning?" he asked sleepily. The bee buzzed off, looking for more honey.

"Just because my hair is honey blonde doesn't mean that you can get nectar from it." He righted himself on his bedroll, lazily stretching his arms. 

Like the other mornings of this past week, his friends' bedrolls were already abandoned. You could say a lot of dwarves. How they were grumpy, unfriendly to new people, obnoxious, sometimes a huge pain in the behind, well, all the time...

But they were also hard workers. When Ori told him about their lives back at their home mountain, he always pointed out how early they got up to start work. 

It was a time that hobbits had never seen on their clocks. Just too early to do anything. Perhaps an early snack but definitely not a time to start working.

Even here in the most comfortable home Bilbo had ever stayed in, they got up early. 

To be fair Beorn had told them that they could stay as long as they took over some chores of him. It was a great deal; safety, food and a place to rest in exchange for some help around his house.

What the skinchanger didn't foresee was that the dwarves would start on their chores that early.

Not that he could complain. No matter how early they started, the work got done in time every single day. That his animals ate earlier than usual was something he could get used to. 

For some reason the skinchanger didn't expect Bilbo to do any of the chores. This had earned some frowns from the dwarves but no one uttered a word. Not after the hobbit had saved their king, putting his own life on the line when no one else could.

Thorin and Dwalin worked on the horses together. Those were the only animals that weren't too stubborn. Plus there was something quite relaxing about brushing their hair. 

Fili and Kili had taken it upon themselves to feed the chickens and collect eggs. They wanted to take care of the horses but their uncle told them that they were not trustworthy enough. When asked what he meant by that he simply said: "Remember the pony incident?"

That was enough to quiet them down.

The others had ran to whatever they felt suited them best. Nori was the only one who wanted to look after the sheep. 

It was the only chore that needed to be done all day long. So Dori was a little worried when this chore in particular had his brother's interest. 

They found out soon when Bofur went to check on him. 

Because the chore was an all day one, looking after the sheep was necessary for more than a few hours, it was also a relaxing one. Nori was found sleeping under a tree as he was 'watching' the herd of sheep.

This earned him a harsh kick under his behind from his elder brother. 

From that day on he stayed awake during his shift. Although he was still taking it easy, smoking his pipe as he stared off into the distance, he at least did his job.

Still, for some reason it didn't surprise Bilbo that this was what he heard as he walked out of the house: "Where has that bloody sheep went off to?"

It was only him outside of the house. Everyone else was busy doing their own job for the day. 

So it was the hobbit who walked off to find the dwarf.

He found him a little further away than yesterday, now standing underneath a willow tree. Nori held his left hand above his eyes to block the sun out. His expert sight might come in handy now.

"What is the problem, master Nori?" Bilbo asked. He tried to sound happy but just one look at the thief' face told him that there was a problem. All the hope for another quiet day disappeared.

"I have one less sheep than yesterday" Nori answered. He pointed at the herd. "There used to stand one on that side but now it is nowhere to be seen."

The hobbit looked at the spot the dwarf was pointing at. And indeed, there was no sheep there. "Maybe she has wandered off towards the raspberry bushes?" he asked. 

"Why would a sheep do that?" Nori asked. He didn't pay Bilbo's comment much attention. He was the official thief of the company. Surely he would find out where a simple sheep had wandered off to?

"I suggest I go looking near the bushes. If you find them before me, then we are lucky." Bilbo started walking away.

Nori huffed. "'Lucky?' It doesn't come down to luck when I am on the case." 

The dwarf couldn't leave the rest of the herd behind because that could lead to more missing sheep. Instead he grabbed a stick and lead them around the house. Together with his new woolen friends he searched everywhere he could.

Except the area close to the raspberry bushes. Bilbo was searching there. And Nori knew that it wouldn't be there.

Because which sheep would choose a raspberry over a delicious moutful of grass?

An idea popped into Nori's head. "What if she just got hungry?" he wondered. He lead the herd towards a nearby lake. It wasn't too far off and he could use some water himself too. A win-win situation.

Many of the sheeps ran the last few feet when they realized where they were heading. 

"Enjoy yourself" Nori said, grinning. The beings hadn't grown on him... THEY HADN'T!

He sat down on the bank too, putting his hands in the water and let the cool sensation run through him. Nori hadn't realized how hot he was until now. He let out a relieved sigh. 

"I FOUND HER!"

Nori looked up. Someone had screamed something. But he couldn't see anyone.

"NORI! OVER HERE!" He recognised the hobbit's voice. 

The dwarf looked over his shoulder and sure enough, there was Bilbo walking side by side with the lost sheep. It's mouth was covered in something red... raspberry juice.

He rolled his eyes. Why did the hobbit found the animal sooner than him? 

"Where was he?" Nori yelled back. It was quite clear if he was honest with himself but there was still that small chance that -

"Near the raspberry bushes" Bilbo shouted, he was close now. "She didn't even realize she had wandered off" he said, patting the sheep on it's back. "At least she had enough to eat."

The sheep walked towards the lake to drink with it's fellow sheep.

"Good. Now we can all go back" Nori said. He didn't thank the hobbit, that would give the smaller man too much satisfaction. The dwarf tapped his stick on the ground two times and the whole herd looked up.

As soon as he started walking the sheep followed him. 

Except for the one sheep whom apparently wanted to get lost again as soon as possible. 

"None of that, you are coming with them" Bilbo told the sheep with a stern tone to his voice. He had to pull him away from the water though before it listened to him.