The other dwarves came within the hour.

Each one was so different, so distinctive from the other one that had appeared before him. Some were clearly brothers -Bofur, Bifur and Bombur all had the same facial structure, Nori and Dori had the same forehead, Ori and Nori shared a long face, and Gloin and Oin both had a round nose. Every dwarf seemed to be incredibly hairy and shared a beard in their own personal styles. All were stocky, lean or (at least in Bombur's case) incredibly fat. Braids had been made in their thick hair and beards and all wore thick clothes, often covered head to toe in weapons. Almost all were rosy-cheeked and easily laughed, most of the time laughing at anything they thought was funny in the slightest way. Including disgusting ones. Gloin's horse farted and the group of eight dwarves had laughed for fifteen minutes straight.

All of the dwarves had rode horses and continued to ride them after they had all introduced themselves while they had all shared a snack provided by Bombur. Elyse had never heard people before as these dwarves. They classified themselves into a new category that Elyse hadn't known existed. Before they had even left Bofur had already offered Sydnee his horse, who had agreed quickly. Winifred and Elyse, both of whom who had been offered as well, had refused were only forced to ride on them anyways. "The wilderness is no place for such pretty lassies," Oin had declared, instantly being agreed with all of the other dwarves there. At the moment, Elyse was on the back of Gloin's mare, the gassy Daisy, with the red-headed dwarf holding onto her reins and leading her. Winifred was on Dori's horse, sitting tall and regal.

Elyse once again did a double take of her friend. Back straight, Winifred could easily be seen as a Queen. Something about the way that she sat, rigid and imposing, Elyse could possibly see how she could be called something so... royal. But she knew Winifred. While Winifred could certainly one day be a Queen, it would take her years of practice. Winifred was clumsy and sometimes air headed; she was always doing something either stupid or tripping over her own feet. She had the beauty of a Queen; the only problem was that she hadn't grown up in a place where she was shown what women like a Queen might do and hardly knew how to braid her own hair-Winifred enjoyed violence, cracked smiles at sad jokes, and often jumped into mud piles (though she often slipped in those). Her compassion for other people was outrageous; she was constantly looking out for others. And, when her head turned to look at something, Elyse could have sworn that there were streaks of white in her black hair, which had never been there before. She'd make a great Queen... Elyse just found it hard to believe.

Her gaze drifted over to where Sydnee and Bofur were chatting. Sydnee as a siren was believable. She had always been able to sing; her voice was really good and easily reached pitches that Elyse couldn't without an instrument. Gandalf mentioned her having a few extra traits like being able to read people with a sixth sense and know their feelings and, to a certain extent, thoughts. He explained that her voice itself could control folks who weren't accustomed to her singing, but she had to learn how to control it. The wizard said that her voice alone might be able to kill an entire village, if she wished.

Looking down at her hands, Elyse couldn't help but scowl at them, her fingers pulling down the sleeves. How did Gandalf know about her scars? Torture with 'orcs' was not how she had gained them, instead they had been made on the battlefield, recklessly throwing herself out into skirmishes to save her friends. There were times when she didn't succeed and there were times when she had saved them and she wished that she had not. She had not been stood back as her own kin were tortured before her very eyes. It was bad enough that she suddenly could change into a white wolf by simply thinking of the creature. She even affected the horses -they were skittish about her and nipped whenever she stuck her hand out toward them to greet them. Clutching her hands, she closed her eyes and sighed.

"You alright lass?"

Slowly she glanced to see Nori gazing at her in concern upon his horse. She sighed as she looked at him. He was perhaps one of the funniest looking of the dwarves; his red hair had been parted into three to make it look like half a star and a strand of hair was connected to his eyebrows and his hair. Dori said that he was a thief and lived his life clinging to the shadows and slipping people's wallets out of their procession.

"I am fine." Turning her head back toward where they were going, Elyse saw the lights up ahead of where they were going -the Shire.

"Normally, when women say that they are fine," Nori exclaimed, surprising her. "They mean that they are not. Now, Miss Elyse, is somethin' bothering you?"

Her hands tightened about the saddle horn and she found herself hunching over, grinding her teeth. "Just nightmares, Master Nori," she whispered softly, picking up on what Gandalf referred to each dwarf.

Nori nodded then, leaving her be. She looked ahead, ignoring the jolly little conversations that were being brought up amongst the dwarves, her two friends, and the wizard up front leading them. The lights of the Shire grew until they were their real size and sparkled in the night like little stars upon the hillside landscape. A few hobbits, the people with large feet, happened to look out their windows, their mouths gaping open as they passed. Elyse watched them cautiously, biting her lip and examining the rather plump people as the horses maneuvered through the narrow worn paths of the Shire. She instantly felt out of place.

They didn't belong here.

Gandalf continued to lead them, however, and only stopped where four horses had been tied up to a few trees along one of the paths near the exact same house that Elyse had first seen Gandalf and the little man. The dwarves dismounted and tied their horses. Once Gloin had tied Daisy, he reached up to her, a small smile upon his round face. "Miss Elyse, lass, do ya need help?"

She shook her head, hopping down and hardly managing to keep herself from not falling onto her face. Gloin caught her arm, steadying her. "Doesn't hurt to ask, lassie," Gloin told her as she ripped away her arm, slightly panicked from the contact. He gave her a funny look and before she could apologize, Sydnee was squealing her name.

"Wasn't that fun?" Sydnee practically dove upon her, giggling and wrapping her up in a quick hug.

While Elyse could only shrug, Bofur wiggled his eyebrows with a smile as he passed by. "I know I enjoyed any conversation between ya lassies." Sydnee giggled and Elyse only narrowed her eyes. Her heart jumped in her throat when Bofur grabbed both of their wrists and pulled them to the door. "Now come on! There's food a-waitin' fer our eatin'!"

It wasn't but a few seconds later that she and Sydnee were both practically pressed up against a door, the dwarves filling in behind them and talking about the masses of food they planned on eating. In a way, it disgusted Elyse, but another part of her -the new vicious wolf part- growled for food as well. She could even smell it slowly drifting out from underneath the circular wooden door in front of her. When one of the dwarves called out for someone to ring the doorbell, she didn't hesitate one second; her hand was smashing down on it. She lifted her hand and stared expectantly at the door. That food smelt marvelous.

"No no no!" Elyse felt her wolf perk it's ears. "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, ha ha, I can only say, it is in very poor taste." His laugh had been fake and Elyse took a step back, knowing that the little man -or hobbit- that had been speaking to Gandalf earlier.

The door opened and the dwarves, including Sydnee with a squeal, fell forward onto the floor before them. Sydnee was definitely on the bottom of that pile and Elyse stumbled back to avoid the flailing limbs. Of course it was funny; eight dwarves and one siren just landed in a heap on a floor, screaming, withering, and laughing while they all still focused upon food. She threw back her head and laughed. It was loud and crystal clear, a barking kind of laugh almost that Elyse could only assume was because of her wolf inside her.

The hobbit man, with his brown curly hair and round face, stared at her for a moment, shocked. With a smile, she gathered her white skirts and dipped into a low curtsy, her smile sarcastic and her curtsy dramatized. "Elyse the skin-changer," she said, bowing forward afterwards and gesturing with her hand. "At your service."

"I suppose that's good to know," the hobbit said after a moment, still probably getting over his shock. He leaned about her and exclaimed, "Gandalf."

Elyse glanced back, still smiling and light hearted, to see the wizard bowing his head in greeting and Winifred, who had wisely stepped back, holding a hand over her mouth to keep from laughing. The dwarves hopped up, almost all at once, and moved right into the house without a single invitation. Sydnee was the last one to get up and she stood to her feet with a hop, fixing her hair with one sweep and bouncing right up to the hobbit one second later. Elyse walked in, followed by Gandalf and Winifred, who closed the door behind her.

"Hi! I'm Sydnee, the siren! Who are you?" She smiled, hand extended out to the hobbit.

"I'm... Bilbo Baggins of Bag End," the hobbit introduced himself, slowly taking her hand and shaking it gently. "I must ask; are you three ladies dwarves as well? At least half I would think."

Winifred, walking up, curtsied low, bowing her head at the same time. The dwarves were busy greeting the ones that must have already been there, speaking loudly, and Gandalf stayed behind her, waiting his turn to speak. "As far as I know, I am the only dwarf out of the three of us. I am Queen Winifred of the Ice Mountains."

Bilbo's face fell instantly. "Your-your Majesty," he spluttered. He bowed with no grace whatsoever and practically fell upon his face.

"Winifred is fine, please." She laughed nervously, brushing back a bang that had fallen free. "This Queen business is new to me as well. Apparently, I am the long lost heir of royalty that I never even knew existed."

Clearly confused, Bilbo cocked his head to the side and Gandalf chuckled. "I must apologize, my dear Bilbo. These wonderful ladies are new to Middle-Earth and did not know much of our customs. Why, they've never seen a hobbit before now!"

"Oh. I'm glad to know that I could become the first hobbit that you've ever met. Now, if you excuse me, I must save my house from these horrid dwarves!"

Bilbo rushed off then, trying to protect his home from the dwarves that were rummaging through it. Elyse turned to Gandalf once he was gone. "He seemed rather flustered. Just how many dwarves are there?"

"Well, why don't you go and see for yourself?"

Elyse glanced at him. "I could," she replied slowly, thinking about it. She could hear the new voices and her wolf had already distinguished the four new scents that were lingering in the home.

"Let's go meet them!" Sydnee exclaimed, grabbing her and Winifred's wrists and began pulling them into the area where the dwarves had gathered.

They were pulled past a mirror, where Winifred paused and pulled her hand from Sydnee's grasp. When Elyse turned around, surprised, she saw that her friend was looking into the mirror, moving her hair around as she stared wide eyed into the glass. The white streak that Elyse had sworn that was there was now showing all of its glory. Face almost pale white, Winifred turned toward Sydnee and Elyse with panic in her eyes as she moved her shaking hand through her black hair.

"I would not become concern about that," Gandalf suddenly spoke up. "Dwarves have longer life spans than man... most of the time. However you came to this world, you must have struck something. I would say you are as old as the leader of Thorin's Company, my dear Winifred. Do not fret."

"Oh yes," Winifred said drily. "I'm only older than what I was in my real home. Please just don't explain anything else to me. I really just don't want to know."

Elyse marched up to her frazzled friend and grabbed her hand, pulling her away from the wizard. Winifred was definitely stressed, but then again, who wouldn't be? "Let's just say hello to these dwarves and then get out of here. I think we'd be better off-"

They'd entered the room where the other dwarves were now and Elyse's words stumbled off her tongue as she walked right into one of the dwarves there. The two had walked into each other fast enough to actually bump heads together, causing both to yelp and grab at their foreheads. She felt a hand grab her arm, steadying her, and she was preparing herself to pull away when she finally opened her eyes. He was still holding his head, face scrunched up slightly as he fingered the spot where their heads had collided. He was taller than her, though not by much. Brunette colored hair framed his almost perfect, boyish but manly face and she felt her mouth drop in shock. His eyes opened slowly and his lips opened, probably to form an apology of some sorts, but he froze when he finally saw her, his hand dropping from his forehead as his deep brown eyes widened. Elyse blinked, her wolf practically snickering inside her.

"I'm sorry," the dwarf said after Sydnee giggled loudly. "I-I didn't realize that you were there! My apologies, Miss...?"

Lost for words, Elyse cleared her throat, slightly disappointed when he pulled his hand away from her arm with a jump. "Um... It's fine. My name is um... Elyse. And you are?"

Her name caused a smile to spread across his face, his eyes sparkling with what she could only describe as mischief. Bowing down, he took her hand and pressed a kiss against her knuckles. A blush began to warm her cheeks and he looked up, beaming. "I am Kili. Always a pleasure to meet such a beautiful lady as yourself, Elyse."

"Oh... um... Thank you?"

He looked like he was about to say something else but he was grabbed by one of the dwarves, who was roaring in laughter at something, and was dragged back into the crowd. Elyse stood there, still blinking with her hand out and feeling her blush slowly disappear, and almost jumped out of her skin when Sydnee placed a hand on her shoulder, both her and Winifred giggling.

"Oh Elyse," Sydnee exclaimed in a sing-song voice. "I do believe that someone has taken a liking to you!"

"Shut up!" she hissed.

Sydnee only giggled and Elyse could feel her wolf -that blasted creature of white fur and purple eyes- doing the same exact thing inside her.