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      Fili hugged his mother, who hugged him back tightly.

      "Now, you stay safe, Fili, you hear me?" Dis said.

      "Yes, Mom, I hear you, and I will." Fili pulled away from the hug.

      "And you watch out for Kili!"

      "You don't have to tell me to watch out for him, Mom. He's my little brother! I'd die for him."

      Dis smiled, tears in her eyes, and turned to Kili. She gave him a tight hug.

      "Mom!" Kili gasped. "Choking, not breathing!"

      The other twelve Dwarves laughed. Dis released her son and put a stone in his palm.

      "A Rune-Stone?" Kili asked.

      "It's a promise." Dis said. "Kili, promise me you'll come back. Promise me that you, your brother and uncle will come back to me."

      "I promise, Mom." Kili hugged her again. "We'll come back. All of us."

<3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

     Kili and Fili walked down the dirt road in search of Bilbo Baggins' house. They had tied their ponies up with two others a little ways back.

     "Gandalf said he put the burglar's mark on the door, right?" Kili asked.

     "Yeah." Fili replied.

     "I wonder who the other ponies back there belong to." Kili wondered aloud.

     Fili shrugged before stopping by a fence. "I think this is the place."

     The two walked up to the door and inspected it. Yes, this was the place. Fili rang the bell and he and Kili stood there, waiting for Master Baggins to open the door. Finally the door opened, revealing a flustered looking Hobbit.

     "Fili." The older Dwarf Prince said.

     "And Kili." The youngest Dwarf Prince said.

     Then, both talking and bowing in unison they said: "At your service."

     "You must be Mr. Baggins." Kili said.

     "Nope, you can't come in, you've come to the wrong house." The Halfling quickly said and began to close the door.

     Kili stopped the door with his foot, looking concerned. "What, has it been cancelled?"

     Fili glanced at Kili then looked at the Hobbit. "No one told us."

     Master Baggins looked at the two in confusion. "Ca- no, nothing's been cancelled."

     "That's a relief!" Kili said with a big grin, pushing the door (and flustered Hobbit) aside and entering the house.

     Fili followed after him, walking in as if he owned the place. He turned around and handed the Halfling his weapons. "Careful with these; I just had 'em sharpened."

     "It's nice, this place." Kili said as he walked out of a different room. "Did you do it yourself?" 

     "Well, uh, no, it's been in the family for years." Bilbo answered, then turning to look at Kili (who was scraping mud off his shoes on a chest) raised his voice and said: "That's my mother's glory box, can you please not do that?"

     "Fili, Kili, come on, give us a hand." Dwalin said as he walked up and grabbed Kili by the arm.

     "Mister Dwalin." Kili greeted with a smile. He patted Balin on the shoulder as he walked into the doorway to the kitchen.

     "Let's shove this in the hall: otherwise we'll never get everyone in." Balin said, referring to the table.

     "E-everyone?!" Bilbo, still holding Fili's weapons, cried. "How many more are there?"

     "Lift it." Dwalin told Kili and Fili.

     "Where do you want this?" Kili asked.

     "In the hall." Dwalin said. "This way."

     Kili and Fili helped Dwalin and Balin lift the table and move it to the hall. Dori, Nori, Ori, Oin and Gloin had arrived while they were moving the table and helped move the chairs. Soon after they had moved the table there was a loud bang on the door. Bilbo made his way to the door in a huff and Kili, Fili, Dwalin and Balin followed, curious as to who all was here.

     Bilbo jerked the door open and in fell four dwarves, all on top of each other on the floor mat. Gandalf stood right behind them, leaning on his stick and laughing. 

     "Carefully! Carefully! he said. "It is not like you, Bilbo, to keep friends waiting on the mat, and then open the door like a pop-gun! Let me introduce Bifur, Bofur, Bombur, and especially Thorin!"*

     Bifur, Bofur and Bombur got to their feet and, standing in a row, bowed and said in unison: "At your service!"

     Kili and Fili, after seeing their uncle crushed beneath Bombur, began laughing hysterically.

     Thorin got to his feet, seemingly very displeased at falling flat on the floor (and annoyed with his nephew's laughter) with one of the fattest and heaviest dwarves on top of him. Thorin, being haughty, said nothing to the poor halfling but walked into the house.

     "I am so sorry." Bilbo apologized.

     Thorin said nothing, but every now and again Bilbo would apologize again and again, so finally Thorin said 'Pray don't mention it,' and stopped frowning.**  

     Gandalf and Thorin made their way to the table in the hall as the other dwarves began getting in the pantry and setting the table. Kili and Fili picked up a barrel of ale and began to drag it off to the hall. They passed Gandalf on the way, who was counting everybody.

     "Kili, Fili." Gandalf said, holding up two more fingers.

     The two brothers looked up at him and smiled. When they entered the kitchen they set the barrel down on a chair in the corner and began filling mugs of ale. Fili filled three mugs of it before he climbed onto the table. He walked along it, kicking away some of the dishes in the process.

     "Who wants ale?" He asked.

     "Over here, Fili!" Thorin called over to him.

     Fili walked over to his uncle and handed him a mug. "Here you go."

     "Let him have another drink!" Dwalin called out.

     Fili turned around, made his way to Dwalin and handed him a mug of ale. Dwalin took it and poured it down Oin's hearing trumpet. Oin jerked it away from his ear and put his mouth it the earpiece, blowing the ale out and splashing some of the other dwarves at the table.

     "Shazara!" [Silence!] Thorin said, shouting to be heard over the other dwarves' noise.

     Immediately everyone quieted down. Fili got off of the table and took a seat next to his brother. As Thorin spoke everyone listened intently.

     "Bilbo, let us have more light." Gandalf said as he brought out a map and set it on the table.

     Bilbo fetched a candle and put it on the table. They talked about the map a bit, and Bilbo listened and watched, his Took side taking an interest in this quest of theirs.

     "Oh, I almost forgot." Gandalf said. "With the map is a key." He handed a key to Thorin. "Keep it safe!"

     "Indeed I will."*** Thorin said, fastening it on a chain that was around his neck and under his jacket.

     "If there is a key, then there must be a door." Fili said.

     Kili suppressed a laugh and whispered to Fili, "Really? I thought it was just a useless prop!"

     Fili rolled his eyes.

     "How long will it take to get to the Mountain?" Kili asked, still whispering.

     "Were you not paying attention?"

     "Of course I was. I just forgot."

     "It was mentioned only moments ago, and Thorin also mentioned it back in the Blue Mountains. Were you not paying attention then, either?"

     "I was..."

     "No you weren't. I can tell you what you were doing. You were too busy flirting with Damira to pay attention."

     "Well, she is pretty."

     "You say that about every girl."

     "But she really was!"

     "You also say that every time."

     When Kili and Fili turned their attention back to the others they noticed that Bofur was now speaking.

     "...Claws like meat-hooks, extremely fond of precious metals-"

     "I may not get out much, but I do know what a dragon is." Bilbo interrupted.

     Kili and Fili silently laughed as the others continued talking.

     "The task would be difficult enough with an army behind us." Balin said. "But we number just thirteen, and not thirteen of the best, nor brightest."

     "We may be few in number, but we're fighters; all of us, to the last dwarf!" Fili said, standing up.

     "I'm with Fili!" Kili said, standing up. "We will succeed! We will slay the foul serpent, and we will take back what is rightfully ours!"

     Thorin smiled slightly at his two nephews. One day they would make fine kings. The two princes sat back down as Gandalf began speaking again.

     "The task in mind will require a great deal of stealth, and no small amount of courage. But, if we are careful and clever, I believe that it can be done." He said.

     "That's why we need a burglar." Ori said.

     Kili and Fili began whispering to one another again, paying no attention to the conversations going on around them. They stopped talking once when Gandalf used his 'Powerful Voice', but afterwards they began talking again. When they turned their attention back to the others they heard Bilbo reading aloud from the contract Balin had handed him.

     "...Incineration?"

     "Oh, aye, he'll melt the flesh off your bones." Bofur said.

     "Huh." Bilbo said, looking a bit breathless.

     "You alright laddie?" Balin asked.

     "Uh, yeah... feel a bit faint." Bilbo answered, bending over slightly and taking in several small breaths. He looked nauseated.

     "Think furnace with wings." Bofur added to his previous statement.

     "Air, I-I-I need air."

     "Flash of light, searing pain, then poof! you're nothing more than a pile of ash."

     Kili and Fili suppressed a laugh as they watched Bilbo, who was breathing deeply and trying to compose himself as everyone stared at him.

     "Hmm. Nope." He said before he fainted.

     Kili and Fili, unable to hold it back anymore, burst out laughing.

     "Ah, very helpful, Bofur." Gandalf said.

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*J.R.R. Tolkien's 'The Hobbit', Chapter One: An Unexpected Party

**J.R.R. Tolkien's 'The Hobbit', Chapter One: An Unexpected Party

***J.R.R. Tolkien's 'The Hobbit', Chapter One: An Unexpected Party