Chapter 2: That is Our Host

It was late afternoon when Thorin and Gandalf were leading their group through plains and streams.

They had a moment to catch their breaths. Their running contineud, but then it came to a stop when they heard the sound of roars from a certain bear.

"This way, quickly!" Gandalf shouted at his friends.

The wizard resumed to lead them out of the woods. Half of them looked behind and saw a large bear come out from the trees and brushes. The company ran fster, but suprirsingly, Bombur was a mega-runner. He outran them all and at the beggining of the line. He was not about to become bear-meat. They were in so much of a panic. Bombur crashed into the locked door, followed by Fili, Kili and a couple other dwarves.

"Come on, get inside!" Gandalf shouted.

"Open the door!" Violet shouted as she shoved through the crowd of dwarves (all of them were attempting to open the door.

"Quickly!" Thorin shouted. The dwarf king shoved through the dwarves and lifted the latch off the door's handle. Once everyone was inside, most of them tried pushing the door against the bear's weight. Bilbo, frieghtened, took out his sword. They finally managed to close the door, most of them out of breath.

"What was that?" Ori and Violet asked.

"'That' is a who, and he is our host," Gandalf informed the company. Everyone looked at Gandalf if he had grown another head. "His name is Beorn and he is a skin changer. Sometimes he is th"

"O-our host is a dangerous man?" Violet asked.

"Why, no he is not, Violet Greenhill," Gandalf said. "Sometimes he's a huge black bear; sometimes he's a great strong man. The bear is unpredictable, but the man can be reasoned with. However, he is not overfond of dwarves."

Ori looked in between the crack of the doors and looked back at his kin and friends

"He's leaving!" Ori whispered. His older brother pulled him away from the door.

"Come away from there! It's not natural, none of it," Dori said. He said almost accusingly, "It's obvious: he's under some dark spell."

"Don't be a fool; he's under no enchantment but his own," Gandalf snapped at Dori. Then he looked at the dwarves and the Hobbits. "Alright now, get some sleep, all of you. You'll be safe here tonight."

Violet heard him murmur, "I hope."

It was well into the night when the Company went to sleep. Their hunters were not so lucky. The skinchanger, Beorn was guarding his hom, to keep it from invaders. They were watching his house, but Beorn was watching them and never left that spot, just moving back and forth.

"Attack them now," Narzug tells the Orc warlord. "Kill the Dwarf filth while they sleep."

"No. The Beast stands guard," Azog ordered. "We will kill them on the road.

The trees and the bushes were rustling, and th eOrcs alarmed readied their weapons until it revealed a nasty figure of Bolg, son of Azog the Defiler. Like his father, Bolg was ruthless, sadistic, and very bloodthirsty.

"They are gathering in Dol Guldur. The Master has summoned you." Bolg said.

It was the middle of the night and the entire company was asleep. Bilbo was the only one awake. He looked and saw Violet slumbering next to him. She must have been too tired to get up and decided to stay where she was at. She shivered just a little bit, her temperature dropping cold. So he brought her closer and shared the same blanket with him and a smile formed on Violet's face. Once she was satisfied with it, Bilbo looked to make sure no one was awake and took out the ring from his pocket. He looked at the ring, playing it in his fingers, and Bilbo could have sworn he heard it whispering.

"Ash nazg durbatulûk, ash nazg gimbatul, ash nazg thrakatulûk, agh burzum ishi krimpatul," a dark voice chanted that translated to a dark and powerful verse in a poem once forgotten long ago. Orcs and Wargs were seen sneaking into Dol Guldur. Azog the Defiler was in fact meetin with the Necromancer.

"We grow in number," the Necromancer said. "We grow in strength. You will lead my armies."

"What of Oakenshield?" Azog inquired.

"War is coming."

"You promised me his head."

"Death will come to all," the Necromancer said as he disappeared. Then of course, after he was done, Narzug the Orc asked, "Do we call off the hunt?"

"Bolg!" Azog shouted, and his offspring crossed over a couple of the Orcs. "I have a task for you. Do you still thirst for Dwarf blood?"

Bilbo woke up with a bee as big as the size of a human thumb on his nose. It was perfectly harmless. He looked and saw Violet was gone, as were the others. It was also sunny outside, declaring it was morning. Bilbo walked through the house while putting on his coat and seeing farm and non-farm animals. There, the dwarves were arguing.

"Well, I say we should leg it," Nori suggested. " Slip out the back way."

Dwalin fiercly grabs Nori's arm. "I'm not running from anyone, beast or no."

"Will you two knock it off?!" Violet shouted in a whisper as she pulled both of them apart. "You're fighting like a bunch of boys fighting over a girl!"

"Violet is right! There is no point in arguing," Gandalf scolded the dwarves. "We cannot pass through the Wilderland without Beorn's help. We'll be hunted down before we ever get to the forest. Ah, Bilbo. There you are. Now, this will require some delicate handling. We must tread very carefully. The last person to have startled him was torn to shreds."

Violet slightly gulped nervously and the others wer looking at each other in a panic.

Thank you for the optimism, Gandalf, Violet thought.

" I will go first and... Uh, Bilbo? You come with me."

"Is this a good idea?" Bilbo asked as he came out next to Gandalf.

"Yes. Now, the rest of you, you just wait here and don't come out until I give the signal," Gandalf instructed the remaining Thorin and COmpany members.

"Right. Wait for the signal." Bofur said, who wals looking out the window and out back to the fields.

"And no sudden moves or loud noises, and don't overcrowd him. And only come out in pairs. Right. No, actually, Bombur, um, you count as two so you should come out alone. Remember, wait for the signal."

Gandalf and Bilbo left the dwarve,s but Gandalf was not sure what the signal would be.

"What signal would that be?" Bofur asked Gandalf, but they found the wizard gone. and the dwarves were unsure.

"He didn't even say what the signal is!" Kili complained.

"When he waves over to the door will do, Bofur," Violet said. The men looked at her an dshe just shrugged. "I mean if that will do with you guys."

"What other option do we have?" Bofur asked and looked out the window.

"I realised something," Fili said when Violet came towards them and the dwarf prince put an arm around her shoulders. "You're second hobbit, the second burglar. You're the second cook."

'The second healer..." Kili continued.

"I get it," Violet interrupted, annoyed with the Durin brothers.

As they walked away, the Hobbit noticed Gandalf was looking nervously at Beorn.

"You're nervous." Bilbo commented.

Gandalf looked at young Bilbo and hid his nervousness (or tried to hide it at least)

"Nervous? What, nonsense." Gandalf said. "Good morning. Good morning!"

Beorn didn't hear the firsty one, so Gandalf had to say it twice.

"Who are you?" Beorn asked never looking at Gandalf

"I'm Gandalf. Gandalf the Grey." Gandalf said

Beorn this time looked at them this time, and he said suspiciously"Never heard of him."

"I'm a Wizard," Gandalf explained. "Perhaps you've heard of my colleague Radagast the Brown. He resides in the southern borders of Mirkwood."

"What do you want?"

"Well, simply to thank you for your hospitality. You may have noticed that we took refuge in your lodgings here last night."

Bilbo, who was uneasy at the time and hiding behind Gandalf most of the time, was caught in Beorn's attention

"Who is this little fellow?"

"Well, this would be Mr. Baggins from the Shire"

"He's not a Dwarf, is he?" Beorn slightly raised his ax.

Meanwhile, Violet was getting scared for her friend and almost left before someone grabbed her arm to save Bilbo.

"Trust Gandalf this one time, Miss Greenhill," Thorin whispered to her ears.

"Why, no. No, he's a Hobbit. A good family and unimpeachable reputation."

"A Halfling and a Wizard. How come you here?" Beorn said, a little more softer after seeing the tow of the m together

"Oh, well, the fact is that we've had a bad time of it from Goblins in the mountains." Gandalf started to explain.

"What did you go near Goblins for? Stupid thing to do."

"You are absolutely right." Gandalf said gesturing with his hands.

Violet left first with Balin and Dwalin shadowing over her.

"Hi," Violet said, waving her hand shyly. She was both nervous and shy at this moment. Gandalf looked back at Miss Greenhill and back at Beorn.

"Well, another hobbit," Gandalf chuckled.

"Violet Greenhill, at your service, sir," Violet said and curtsied with her cut skirt she fashioned before eh journey began. Balin and Dwalin came after Miss Greenhill, who were now her "self-proclaimed protectors."

"Dwalin," the warrior dwarf said and pointed to his brother, who was smilinv, "Balin"

The latter of the two had smiled and waved a hand a little.

"And I must confess that, uh, Violet is the other hobbit edition, "and several of our group are, in fact, Dwarves."

"Do you call two 'several'?" Beorn said.

"Well, uh, now you put it that way... Yes, there could be more than two."

Oin and Gloin were after Violet, Balin and Dwalin (the only trio of the group) and brothers simultaneously bowed.

"Oh, and here are some more of our, uh, happy troop." Gandalf said.

"And do you call six a 'troop'? What are you, a traveling circus?" Beorn shouted.

At Bofur's signal, Dori and Ori went out.

"Dori and Ori at your service." Dori said and

"I don't want your service." Beorn sneered.

"Absolutely understandable."

Fíli and Kíli came after Dori and Ori. They went down the steps.

"Oh, Fili and Kili,"Gandlaf said while smiling nervously. "I'd quite forgotten. Yes." Bifur, Bofur, Nori, and Bombur all burst out afterwards.

"Oh, yes, and Nori, Bofur, Bifur and Bombur," Gandalf said uneasy.

"Is that it? Are there any more?" Beorn asked in a furious voice.

Sort of, Violet thought.