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The battle was over.
Thorin still lived, miraculously, through the quick action of the eagles and the healing hands of the elves.
Fili and Kili were injured, but alive, and will hopefully be able to walk in time.
And Bilbo... Bilbo was still in Erebor and didn't know if he really wanted to go back to the Shire. Gandalf had offered to guide him back, but something had made him refuse. So here the hobbit was, helping where he could, but often finding himself at loose ends near the end of the day.
He had taken to walking the slopes of the mountain, late in the afternoon before dinner, breathing in the fresh air as it blew across the rocky plain. He enjoyed seeing the birds returning, even in the cold winter air, and his excursions filled him with a sense of peace he rarely found in the mountain full of busy dwarves.
He sat on a rocky outcropping and gazed out over Smaug's Desolation.
"Come spring, I will see you fully planted in sweet grasses and flowers," Bilbo told the waste. "Bees, birds, and butterflies will flock to the mountain and Dale, and the soil with live again. There will be daisies and lilacs, tulips and forget-me-nots, hydrangeas and lilies of every color-"
He broke off as a distressed whimper met his ears. He stood and quickly followed the sound coming from behind a boulder in a little gully further down the mountain. He carefully slid down past the rock and froze in shock.
Wargs!
There were three creatures, two standing and whimpering and one lying on the ground motionless. One of the two caught his scent and turned to snarl at him. Bilbo put up his hands and slowly baked away until it stopped and went back to nuzzling the prone warg. Bilbo watched silently, his heart racing in his chest, as the other one started crying. He realized that the two must be young pups and the larger warg their mother. After several minutes they both lay down next to their mom and started whimpering again. It made Bilbo's heart sore to see them suffering, even if they were monstrous beasts.
Bilbo then did the stupidest thing he had ever done, and he had riddled with a dragon, so that is saying something! He took a deep breath and walked closer to the wargs. He was almost upon them before they realized he was there. They barked at him, but he walked closer until he was able to see that their mother was indeed dead, from starvation if the leanness of her body was anything to go by. He talked to them soothingly, nonsense words with his hands extended to show that he meant no harm. He sat down close to them, crossed his legs, and waited.
It took several minutes, but slowly the smaller of the two beasts became curious and shuffled its way over to Bilbo. He slowly reached out and offered his hand for him to sniff before gently running his hand over the warg's ears and head. He pulled out a bit of dried meat he had stored in one of his pockets and slowly offered it to the warg. He sniffed at it for a bit before lapping it up with his tounge and chewing it messily. Bilbo winced.
"Your breath leaves much to be desired, but you aren't terribly bad." He muttered as he continued to pet his head.
The other warg suddenly made his presence known by nudging against Bilbo's pocket to try to find jerky for himself.
"Hold on a minute," Bilbo huffed. "Getting very close now, are we?" After the two had eaten all his jerky, Bilbo decided it was time to head back inside the mountain. He stood and gave each warg a goodbye pat before he turned to head back up the mountain. After several steps, he realized that the wargs were following him.
"Stay!" He took a few steps and they took a few steps to stay with him.
"No, you stay right here!" Bilbo pointed at the rock the were standing on. The wargs whined and butted their heads against his legs. Bilbo looked down at their big pleading eyes and sighed.
"Oh, this will be fun to explain," he groused as he headed back up the slope with two wargs trailing behind him happily. "Dwalin is going to be furious. And Nori will laugh. And Balin will grumble."
"Master Bilbo!" A frantic voice called to him as he neared the entrance to the mountain. "You've got wargs! Right behind you!" It was Bofur, waving frantically and jumping up and down.
"Yes, I know! I think I may have accidentally adopted them!" Bilbo called back. "Please don't shoot them!"
Bilbo will always remember the look on the dwarves' faces as he walked into Erebor with two little warg pups trailing after him. Dwalin was indeed mad and Ori nearly fainted. Dwarves stopped mid-sentence and gazed in horror when he passed by them in the corridor. Oin frowned when they entered the healing rooms. But the best reaction came from Thorin, still a little loopy from his pain tonics. He sat up in bed and batted Oin with his hands to get a better look.
"Bilbo! You brought me puppies! Puppies!"
Bilbo looked back and forth between the scruffy little wargs and the loopy grin on the King's face.
"Yes, Thorin. I brought you puppies." Bilbo sighed. Thorin crooned happily at the two before they decided he was interesting enough to leave Bilbo's side and investigate. When they were close enough for Thorin to reach over and pet, he ran his hand over their heads.
"So pretty!" He whispered. "I'll name you Silver and Ruby! Because you are so pretty!" He smiled and slipped back into sleep.
Bilbo guided the two pups over to the corner where Bilbo had set up his cot and sighed.
"Thorin is going to regret this in the morning," he said softly as he let the two wargs snuggle against his feet. Bilbo slipped into dreams listening to Thorin's deep breaths and little warg snuffles and snores.
......
Thorin was horrified when he awoke.
"Bilbo! There are wargs in the room!" He hissed.
"Mmmm," Bilbo hummed as he chewed a mouthful of porridge. "Their names are Silver and Ruby." Bilbo responded as he held out a strip of raw meat for the smaller one. He rapidly devoured it as he sat on the floor between Bilbo's chair and Thorin's bed. "You were very happy last night that I brought you pretty puppies." Bilbo teased.
Thorin turned bright red and mumbled under his breath about rabid animals.
"They've already run off several of those annoying lords who keep trying to see you. And that annoying guild member who keeps heckling you about trading with the Iron Hills."
Thorin turned back to the pups.
"Good boys! You're the best little wargs ever! Yes you are, my little fluffy balls of fangs and claws!"
Bilbo leaned over to ask Fili, "is he always like this?"
The prince nodded.
"Silver! Don't eat my blanket!"
Bilbo was glad he stayed in Erebor.