Chapter 9

His eyes fluttered open, the light from a window causing him to groan as he did so. He turned to his side, only to suddenly jolt up in pain, an action which only caused him more pain. He looked down, he had no shirt on, but his chest was covered by tight bandages. Then he remembered, he had beaten Smaug, or so he thought. It seemed that with his last breath the dragon had attempted a final attack, and james honestly thought he was dead in those final moments.

He fell back down in shock, his wide unblinking eyes staring at the ceiling. Only then did he register that one, he was not in his house, two, someone had healed and bandaged him, and three, there was a man sitting in the corner of the room. "Hahaha, you finally noticed. It's understandable, after all, you just slayed a dragon." James just stared at him, taking in his appearance, "Gandalf the grey.." He was in awe. One of his favorite book characters was speaking to him. He felt like a giddy student who had a crush.

"Yes, that is me, but I'm afraid I don't know your name." Ahh, now he was embarrassed. "Oh yes, I'm James. It's nice to meet you, Gandalf." The old man smiled, "The same to you James, however, there are many more people downstairs who would like to meet you, perhaps even more than I." Bilbo and the dwarves, he was sure that's who Gandalf was talking about. He moved to get out of bed, wincing in pain once again, and noticed his spear lying against the bed next to the wall. He grabbed it and used it as a walking stick, following Gandalf out of the door.

As he reached the bottom of the stairs, he was greeted by the faces of many dwarves seated around a table, all staring directly at him. "Umm… hello." That seemed to break the dwarves out of their stupor, and they launched at him with a series of hellos, nice to meet yous and many other greetings. It was quite overwhelming, and he was about to ask them to stop before a voice boomed out, "Can't you see you are annoying our guest? Get a hold of yourselves!" That seemed to quell them, and they returned to their seats muttering soon after.

The one who had said that stood proudly at the front of the table, exactly opposite of himself. "Greetings, dragon slayer. I am Thorin Oakensheild, and I am in your debt." That was Thorin. Thorin was speaking to him. King under the fucking mountainwas speaking to him. "Ah, you don't owe me anything. After all, the only reason I was after Smaug was because he had stolen something from me. Had he not taken that item, I would have never endeavored on this quest to begin with. And, you did heal me from certain death, so I'd say we're pretty even." Thorin looked shocked, perhaps expecting him to make outrageous demands. The dwarf smirked and bellowed a laugh.

"Quite the interesting person you are. Wanting nothing in return for slaying a dragon and giving us enough gold for 10,000 generations." He chuckled in response, "Well, there are two things I want. Help searching Smaug's pile for my item, and a place to stay until I am recovered." The dwarves looked happy that he was staying for a while, and they were all smiling and nodding. "Oh and by the way, how long has it been since I fell asleep?" It was gandalf who answered, "Quite a while, you've been recovering for about 3 weeks. You certainly heal fast." That last part was said with a strange glint in the old wizard's eye, and all James could do was chuckle nervously.

"No need to interrogate our guest Gandalf. And both of those requests can be fulfilled, what exactly is it that you're looking for?" James coughed, suddenly feeling awkward about his answer. "Well you see, I'm looking for a book that was stolen from me." Everyone in the house looked at him like he was absolutely insane, almost dying for a book. "Well, we….. We can help you with that." It seemed Throin couldn't quite process that he had slayed a dragon for a book, and James just coughed awkwardly as gandalf chuckled and smoked.

*Two days later*

James sighed as stood over the great horde of gold. The book still hadn't been found, but he had almost fully healed, all that remained were slight lingering pains. He was about to resume his search before someone cried out, "I FOUND IT! I'VE FOUND THE BOOK!"James rushed towards the voice, finding Blibo holding a book almost as big as he was. "Ah Bilbo! I can't thank you enough." He took the book from Bilbo's arms, tucking it under his arm and grinning widely at the hobbit. "It's no problem, after all, you've helped us a great deal." James just kept grinning, walking towards the other dwarves and announcing that the book had been found.

Later that night, after they had had a great feast and all the Dwarves were asleep, James quietly pushed open the door. He traveled over the bridge and out of laketown, looking down on the lights and smiling. However short, he had enjoyed his stay in Middle earth. However, he had to return to his duties. "Leaving so soon?" A voice questioned from behind him. He didn't turn around, only smiling softly and responding, "Yes, after all, you've figured it out haven't you? That I am not of this world?" No response came from behind him, so he turned around, finding Gandalf standing there, smoking his pipe. "I had my suspicions, that magic you used was not of this world. Perhaps we will meet again in the great beyond, James." "Yes, perhaps we will. But for now, goodbye Gandalf the Grey." James disappeared with a flash of light soon after, only the chuckling of an old man remaining in the clearing.

James reappeared in the base of the tower, "Lift the stop of portals." The tower did so immediately, and he sat down at the desk, pulling a book from the shelf. A familiar one. So familiar in fact, he felt he had lived it. The Hobbit.