Once all of the dwarves had their fill, Bryn silently set about cleaning up after them. She fed the leftovers to the animals, though there wasn't much left thanks to Bombur, and cleaned the dishes. Ori and Fili offered to help, but she waved them off with a polite smile. All the while Thorin watched her with a careful eye, and she tried not to let it bother her. They were the intruders; not her. She should be the distrustful one.
"What are a pack of dwarves doing so far away from their homes?" She asked casually, walking over to where they were readying for bed. Suddenly she noticed a little man with curly hair and large, hairy feet. "And who are you?"
"Oh, well, I'm Bilbo Baggins, miss." He managed a smile, giving a nod as a hello. He hadn't been seen the entire time he was there! Bryn thought it was impressive that he had gone unseen to her trained eye.
"Bilbo is our burglar." Kili said without thinking. Immediately Dwalin hit him upside the head, to which he only scowled at and clamped his mouth shut.
"A burglar? Why would you need a burglar?" Her eyes narrowed, not at Bilbo, but at Thorin. He was the one orchestrating the entire ordeal, she knew it. Him or that damn Istar.
"No need to be alarmed, Bryn." The greying wizard smiled. "He will not be burglarizing any time soon."
"I gave you all the benefit of the doubt thought you might be traveling to Laketown to do trading, but now it's become clear. To have a wizard in your company, a thief, and without any goods without a doubt rules that out." She fixed her gaze on the wizard. "So what is it? Why are you here?"
The wizard only looked down at Thorin, who refused to answer. She set her gaze on the white haired one, Balin, before moving to Dwalin, and coming to rest on Kili, who surprisingly kept his mouth shut. Finally she narrowed her eyes at Fili, hoping that this one would let her know what she wanted.
"Uncle," He finally cracked, "why don't we just tell her? She and her father might be able to help, or at least aid us across the lands."
Thorin appraised his nephew a moment, before speaking. "We seek to reclaim the Lonely Mountain. It is our time to take back what is ours."
She was silent for a long minute, mulling it over. She thought Thorin sounded familiar; he was Thror's grandson, the last King Under the Mountain. He had gone mad with his love of gold, and it brought the dragon Smaug from the north to lay waste to the great city of Dale before bullying its way into the mountain. She not many got out in time, and that their people wandered Middle Earth for work, never really belonging.
Despite Thorin's cold demeanour, her heart went out to them. She knew what it was like to lose her family and home, and though she wasn't as attached to it as her father, she knew what those mountains meant to her people like the Lonely Mountain meant to them. So she did the only thing she could think of; she resolved to help them.
"I can help give you safe passage to Mirkwood and through it." She found herself commenting. Of course she would have to gain permission from her father, but thought it would be easy enough for what she had in mind.
"We're not interested." Thorin spoke gruffly, his arms crossed. Bryn rolled her eyes.
"I'm not interested in your useless gold and treasure, dwarf." She scoffed. It was true; skinchangers had no need for such things. Before their fall they relied on no one but their families, the land, and their animals. "Though I would ask something of you."
Thorin wasn't dim, he knew orcs roamed these lands. Just the night before they were being hunted by a pack. Turning down the help of a wolf would be stupid, so he pretended to be indifferent. "And that would be what?"
"After your quest you help us get back our home in the Misty Mountains." She squared her shoulders and drew herself to her full height to try to impose herself upon him. She wasn't sure it worked, because he remained silent. The rest of the company watched their leader, one blond haired dwarf was listening more carefully than the rest. Gandalf held his tongue.
"If you're going to request that, I want you to help give us safe passage all the way until we reach the Lonely Mountain." The king-to-be decided. "Once we reach the mountain you may leave, and within the time it takes us to get back… on our feet, we will send troops."
Bryn nodded. She hoped Beorn would be happy with her decision. If he wasn't, one of them was going to be extremely unhappy, and she was determined for it not to be her. "Allow me to talk to my father before I finalize our deal."
Thorin nodded, sated with the information. The company climbed under their blankets and found something to rest their heads on. Bryn murmured a quiet sleep well to which she received a few responses. She went back to her small room and layed down on the bed, her hands behind her head as she stared up at the wooden ceiling. After tracing patterns the wood created for what felt like the hundredth time, she sighed. She couldn't fall asleep. She felt the itch to shift, the need to let loose the steam she had been bottling up since she got off on the wrong foot with the dwarves. Finally she got up and stripped her clothes, and took a deep breath.
She was now on four paws, and took a moment to stretch. The first few times she changed it was weird; she was awkward in her body and often would trip over thin air. Don't even get started on how strange it was to have a tail.
She padded outside her room quietly, her nails making soft tapping sounds on the wooden flooring as she walked. She saw all of the dwarves, Bilbo (she wasn't sure exactly what he was), and the Istar were asleep; except for one dwarf. Fili was awake, his blanket draped over his brother, his hands behind his head as she stared upwards, much like she had earlier. He looked deep in thought, his bright blue eyes fixed on a spot on the ceiling.
After an internal battle she gave a huff, threading her way between the snoring dwarves to him. He looked over surprised, moving to sit up but she gave a small whimper, dropping down next to him and resting her head on his chest. He relaxed back, looking her over in wonder. He tentatively moved a hand to pet her head, and chuckled when her tail started to wag slightly. He wondered if he knew what she was doing, if she had control over her actions. At least he hoped this was Bryn, she did say she changed into a wolf. They had the same emerald eyes, so he thought it was safe to assume it was her.
"So this is what you look like, huh?" He murmured, feeling her soft fur. She had a thick pelt that was well taken care of. She turned her head to stare up at him and blinked. He smiled, continuing his ministrations for a few minutes before she stood up and walked away, jumping out of an open window. Fili stared, surprised. She didn't want to talk to him while she was a human but once she was a wolf she got cuddly?
A few hours later she found herself in the barn after a long run and a bath. She shifted back and dressed in an outfit she had stashed some time ago, before walking back to her home. The sun was already up, and she sighed to herself. She didn't know why she cuddled up the dwarf, she just knew that he was unreasonably attractive for one. And that he liked staring at her.
When she got inside, her father was pouring Fili a mug of what looked like milk. The dwarves were sitting at the table like they had been last night, but Thorin was leaning up against a wooden column with his arms crossed. He wasn't going earn any points.
"So you are the one they call Oakenshield." Her father said in his deep voice. Beorn was… hairy, to say the least, but it never bothered Bryn. She accepted him one hundred percent. He was the only reason she was still alive. "Tell me, why is Azog the Defiler hunting you?"
Bryn froze. Azog the Defiler was the one who-
"You know of Azog. How?" Thorin questioned, turning to face her dad. His face was a mixture of inquisitive and demanding.
"My people were the first to live in the mountains." Beorn began, and Bryn went to stand by his side silently. She hated hearing this story; she hated hearing the malice in his voice, the complete loathing that her father harbored inside of himself. "Before the orcs came down from the north. The Defiler killed most of my family. But some he enslaved."
She saw Bilbo's eyes go to the cuff still around her father's wrist. To this day Bryn didn't know if he couldn't get it off or if he didn't want to take it off.
"Not for work you understand," He went on, slowly circling his way around the table, "but for sport. Caging skinchangers, torturing them seemed to amuse him." He poured milk into Ori's mub.
"There are others like you?" Bilbo questioned, his curiosity getting the better of him.
"Once there were many." Beorn's voice dropped.
"And now?"
"Now there are only two." Beorn turned to face his daughter, and she looked down. She hated the Defiler.
The guests spared glances at one another, and when Kili turned to his brother he was staring at Bryn.
"You need to reach the mountains before the last days of autumn." Beorn stated, sitting down in his great wood carved chair.
"Before Durin's Day falls, yes." Gandalf responded.
"You are running out of time." To Beorn's credit, he looked concerned.
"Which is why must go through Mirkwood." Gandalf tilted his head down and looked at her father.
"A darkness lies upon that forest. Fell things creep beneath those trees." He looked over the company, his eyes slightly larger than usual. Thorin turned his back and began pacing silently.
"Giant spiders," Bryn cut in solemnly, "and air that will make you question your closest allies."
"There is an alliance between the orcs of Moria and the Necromancer in Dol Guldur. I would not venture there except in great need."
"We will take the Elven road." Gandaf nodded, almost as if he was trying to convince everyone. "Their path is still safe."
"The wood elves of Mirkwood are not like their kin. They're less wise, and more dangerous." Beorn continued his warnings, staring at Thorin. "But it matters not."
Thorin turned around, his mouth parted and his eyes wide. "What do you mean?"
"These lands are crawling with orcs. Their numbers are growing, and you are on foot. You will never reach the forest alive." Beorn stood, walking the length of the table and bending over to miss the low hanging beam. "I don't like Dwarves, they're greedy, and blind-" he saw Dwalin shoo a white mouse from his arm, and Beorn picked it up. "Blind to the lives of those they deem lesser than their own."
The company watched the absurdly tall man gaze down at the mouse in his grip. the time ticking by slowly as he came to stand in front of Thorin, who was still staring up at him. "But orcs I hate more. What do you need?"
After Gandalf informed him they would need ponies and food, the dwarves set about packing their things from the night before. Bryn pulled her dad to the side.
"I offered to escort them through Mirkwood and to the mountain." She informed him, having to tilt her head backwards to meet his eyes. Immediately he shook his head.
"I cannot let you go. You know what is in those woods and what lies in the mountain. It would be a death sentence." His tone was reprimanding.
"I will not be going into the mountain with them, father. Once they reach Erebor I will leave. I will even go around Mirkwood if you wish it." Bryn explained, and before he could respond, she quickly added, "Thorin promised to help us return to the Misty Mountains once his people return. He will have the full might of the seven dwarven kingdoms behind him."
"I'm still not agreeing, Bryn." He took a deep breath. He didn't want to think about losing his daughter, but at the same time he knew he had to stop babying her. He had taught her everything he possibly could, and it was time to let her make her own decisions. "But if you truly think you should go, I will not stop you."
Bryn smiled brightly, jumping up to wrap her arms around her father's neck. She couldn't believe he actually agreed. Beorn caught her easily and cracked the smallest smile. "Remember what I taught you, now go pack your things."
Bryn kissed his cheek before running inside to throw a few spare outfits into a bag. They consisted of dark pants and simple shirts. Next she packed wood and stone throwing knives. Her father had taught her offensive and defensive attacks to use when not using your animal counterpart. She was more comfortable as a wolf, but when she focused enough she could hit any target within a hundred yards. After a moment of hesitation she slipped on her simple shoes made of deer hide before shrugging on her fur coat. She hadn't had much use for either of them, so they were in good shape.
When she ventured outside shouldering her small pack, the dwarves were already on ponies her dad provided. She said goodbye to her father, before walking over and kissing the muzzle of the pony she would be riding. She didn't have much experience riding ponies or horses, but she knew the basics. She hoisted herself up with a small smile.
"You won't be in your animal form?" Thorin questioned gruffly. He thought the whole point of bringing her would be to scare off potential enemies, not give them the image of a harmless girl.
"No." She answered simply, rubbing the neck of her pony. "We will be safe until we reach Mirkwood." She looked to her father, and he gave a single nod. The company began to move.
:o thank you to Megan the Legit, Satsuriku-Sama, Marina Oakenshield, Lucy Greenhill, Mjean, and Dhalmi93 for the reviews! I'm glad everyone is clicking with the skinchanger backgrounds; JRR Tolkien left like three sentences on them so I had to come up with a lot of it on my own.
R&R guys!