An Yang had no choice but to lift that wooden stick and repeat patiently yet again, "My name is Aine. I am a wandering Wizard, and I am going to become your companion."
Thorin looked at Gandalf skeptically, "You didn't mention our company would have fifteen members."
"Actually, I'm quite sur—"
"Perhaps he meant to give you a surprise," An Yang interjected.
"—prise," Gandalf finished.
Thorin turned his head to stare straight at An Yang, his gaze so sharp it was impossible to meet, and made one forget that he was barely more than half the height of an ordinary man: "Tell me, who are you!"
"A man who perceives the coming of the darkness, a man who knows where you are going and what you are doing, a man who can provide you with good fortune and help, and also a man who can read the moon runes on that map of yours," An Yang met the dwarf prince's exceptionally terrifying gaze with calm directness. "At least, my joining can save you from asking King Elrond for help. By yourself, you are absolutely incapable of reading the riddles on this map."
"Then tell me!" Thorin suddenly stepped forward, picking up the stick beside him, "Since when can an ordinary oak branch picked up at random from the ground pass as a staff?"
"Pfft, haha—"
"Hahahaha!"
The nearby dwarves burst into a roar of laughter.
An Yang also smiled, gazing at the dwarf prince. He grasped the wooden stick from Thorin's hand and said calmly, "An oak branch can be used by you as a shield to fend off Azog the Defiler, so why can't it be used by me as a staff?"
He exerted a little force, but Thorin gripped the stick tightly, refusing to let him take it