"I am going into the Mirkwood with you, and further on should you still have need of me,"
There was more shuffling going on from behind them, and Everin didn't need to look to know that the others of the company were finally awake and hopefully had not heard the entire conversation beforehand. She was still looking downward, her hands gripped tightly together in resemblance to prayer, though the Witch had always doubted that any religious deity would bother to lend an ear to her troubles. Thorin didn't say much, instead he just nodded and, perhaps for the sake of not making either of them feel any more embarrassment, walked a bit aways and left the conversation at that. The others soon joined the table, some of them remaining just as silent on the matter as Thorin was just moments ago, but Everin got a sense that they were secretly pleased that she would be continuing on with them. Some of the company however, were a little more vocal on how they felt, and didn't feel like hiding either.
Ori was the first one to do anything, and that was to run up and hug her, the force of the contact being so fast and sudden that she nearly fell out of her seat altogether. After a moment of needing to adjust to the situation of close contact for the second time in a few days, Everin did hug him back. She noted the fact that Ori was a lot stronger than the Witch had expected, she could even feel the unknown muscles through the layers of wool and cotton. He seemed a little more than upset than she had expected, so to somehow compensate for that she slightly patted his back. Everin really was no good when it came to comforting people, probably had something to do with the fact that there never really were people she had been around long enough to know when they needed comforting, or whether they would even accept her gesture whatsoever.
Everin did look to the other Dwarves on what she should be doing since Ori seemed fine with hugging her longer than she was really used to. However she didn't really get much help from her 'save me' look, since the Dwarves seemed more preoccupied with the food that had been laid out on the table by Beorn and his animal helpers. The youngest Dwarf's brothers only looked slightly amused, well that and other emotions that the Witch wasn't very good at reading either. At some point however Ori did manage to release Everin from the tight lung squeezing hug, the Witch noticing that he looked a little embarrassed as he sat back next to his two older brothers, who proceeded to nudge him and wink suggestively.
Of course Everin was a little lost on what was going on when they did that, since she was, as said before, not an expert when it came to physical contact with people and the reasons behind it, mostly due to lack of real contact with them, and looked to Gandalf for an explanation. She did so by making up an excuse to drag the Wizard to the other side of the house, something along the lines of just wanting to talk to him in general. Everin did feel a little awkward at the fact that she was once again having a private discussion with the Wizard, since the last one ended in her freezing trees and screaming. Apparently Gandalf got that feeling right of the bat and decided not to refer to it as she asked after her queries on why Dwarfs had been hugging her recently.
"They are simply showing gratitude now that we are all in a safe place; you wouldn't happen to know why?"
"…Oh,"
"I assume that means yes?" Everin thought over telling the Wizard on the real circumstances that resulted in her back injuries, before eventually deciding that the truth was probably the best way to go, especially since it always seemed that Gandalf knew when the Witch was lying about something, even the most trivial of things. So Everin told him how it all happened, except politely deciding to skip over a few things that the Goblin King had actually said when interrogating the company, since already the Wizard didn't look in a happy mood at the information she was giving him at the moment.
"… Well then," And just as Everin suspected, Gandalf did not look happy, eyeing the Dwarves with an expression that clearly stated he sort of felt that the situation in which Everin was injured was on their shoulders, which he had to set back when she sent a clear glare at him, before continuing, "It seems that Master Ori has already thanked you for your sacrifice on his behalf, meaning that leaves just his family as well to show their gratitude. Usually Dwarves would show such gratefulness in the saving of their kin from any sort of danger by gifts, but since this journey seems to have limited that motion, hugging will have to do," Everin nodded slightly, rubbing now at her arm as now the two had nothing much else to talk about, but at the same time the Witch felt to awkward to go back to the table.
"Beorn has been a very good host?"
"Hmm? Oh, yes, yes he has. He healed my wounds and offered a table to our company, all for just the price of our story and where we are going," The look the Grey Wizard gave her at the end told her well enough that that was something she shouldn't have done. Everin bit her tongue, looking back to her once mentor with both regret and a plead for him not to tell the company on what she had done. Gandalf's expression didn't betray on what he was thinking however, and he moved back to the table where the others were waiting. Quickly Everin followed after him and sat back in the seat she was in before, trying to pretend that she wasn't as embarrassed or annoyed at herself as she felt.
In fact she was far too busy noticing her own embarrassment for revealing the company's destination, that she still didn't really notice that once again she was sort of only wearing her wrapping on the top half of her body, expect this time without any injuries to stop her from putting a shirt on. When she did notice however, her cheeks became stained a deep scarlet as her arms crossed over her chest, a gesture that was rather ineffective but the signature of it was noticeable all on its own. The first one to notice her discomfort was thankfully Bofur, and was also the first to quickly step out of his seat while the others were preoccupied with their food and slip his coat over her shoulders, the Witch jumping a little at the sudden weight of warm wool and fabric dropping over her shoulders.
"Here ya go lass," he said in the quietest voice that she had ever heard him use, and then was back in his seat before she could even manage up a word of thanks towards him. Bofur just simply smiled to her as she did the same in return, before returning back to what was taking up the other Dwarves' attention, the food of course. Everin attempted to join in herself, managing to snag a few pieces of bread and butter before settling on that alone. Their shape changing host meanwhile, was watching them all eat, laugh and basically share good will amongst each other, occasionally going around with what looked like the largest jug (that was actually made out of a large barrel) to refill the cups of the company.
Everin attempted to drink the milk like beverage, feeling the warmth of the liquid through the large wooden mug, which was about the size of her own head, so the Witch already knew that she wouldn't be able to finish it. It was a very sweetened type of milk, with the slightest hints of honey in the mix. The Witch enjoyed the taste of it, but it seemed like a bit too much of a hassle to drink it out of the large mug to really enjoy it, since the first time she tried to drink out of it, it nearly splashed all over her. The others did seem to mind if that did happen however, since they seemed very eager to just eat the food that was offered.
They weren't really 'eating' the same as they usually did. There was no singing, and really no merriment that could be seen. If anything they were just tired and eating to save up their energy, plus there could be the fact that they were carefully watching the man that at any point could turn into a bear and put them back in danger for the umpteenth time. Everin watched them look to Beorn with shifty eyes and untrusting stares, and wondered if they had ever done the same to her. After all, she was just as capable as Beorn was at being a threat, yet for some reason they only subtlety glared to the shape shifter.
Did they really trust her enough not to second guess or judge on her control? Everin felt something warmer than the sweetened milk go through her stomach, but decided not to dwell on it for that moment since she figured she had felt enough strong tear-making emotions for that day already. Instead, what she did dwell on was the other warmth that she had at that moment, which was the coat that she was now snuggling into in order to keep the warmth in the article of clothing. There was a scent coming off the coat that easily reached Everin's nose, the hints of fresh pine from trees and many different kind of old spices that had stuck with the wool of the coat for some time before. All in all it was a very pleasant experience to her senses.
If the other had noticed her wearing the coat, they certainly didn't say much about it and instead continued on their feast in silence. Beorn was, as Everin eventually noticed, watching them as eerily as they were watching him, looking over the large groups of Dwarves as they ate silently. Eventually though a conversation had to be struck up between them all, and of course it had to be the one subject that Everin had accidentally given a bit too much information to, and therefore was hoping to not discuss it just yet. However, the discussion was still brought up and the Company was sort of left to wonder on how the shape shifter knew already where they were heading.
"How do you know of our destination?" Thorin growled, and Everin felt something in her bones freeze at the tone. In the corner of her eyes she looked in turn to Thorin, Beorn and then to Gandalf who seemed to be thinking deeply about something, his hand cradling a pipe as he smoked it slowly, puffing small rings of pure white smoke up to the ceiling. The Witch suddenly felt unease in her as the silent moment seemed to drag on for longer than it really was. She felt nervousness in her at the thought of being pushed away by the company, being distrusted already after feeling such gratefulness from their kindness. She had betrayed them, even if it was in the smallest degree and by accident; it was still considered a betrayal to her.
She was about to admit to it herself, when she was suddenly interrupted.
"I told him, Beorn cares nothing for coins or any other sort of physical payment, since he was no need for it. Stories are more interesting to him, and so for a table and places to sleep, I told him of our quest." The Grey Wizard hummed from the other side of the room, ignoring the rather annoyed looks that some of the Dwarves were sending his way, as apparently it seemed to them that the Wizard was okay with telling everyone they met of their journey but at the same time told them not to tell anyone else. Everin meanwhile, was grateful for Gandalf taking the small blame for her and was sure to send him a thankful smile when none of the company was looking. Beorn was confused, but all the same decided not to question it and instead continued on with his discussions with the Dwarves, reevaluating the story that Everin had told him.
"So you are the one they call Oakensheild? And Azog the Defiler is hunting you?"
"You know of Azog?" The Dwarf King had been looking away from the table for most of the conversation, but turned at the mention of his apparently oldest enemy. The Witch didn't fail to notice either the look that his two nephews gave him at the mention of the Orc as well, even though they had sort of seen the pale monster themselves, but at the same time they had seen it, it was almost killing their uncle. So naturally there was a sense of worry in them when they saw, along with practically everyone else, such an angered need for vengeance in the eyes of their leader. It even made Everin shiver somewhat under the warmth of her cloak.
"My people were the first to live in the mountains, before the Orcs came down from the North. The Defiler killed most of my family, but some he enslaved, not for work you understand, but for sport. Caging skin-changers and torturing them seemed to amuse him." The warmth left the Witch again, and she felt cold inside at the thought of what the pale Orc had done. The experience of being enslaved and caged was not beyond Everin's familiarity in her long life; in fact it was memories that she liked not to dwell on. But the thought of family suffering with her, was hard enough to imagine that she didn't want to have the experience of living it like Beorn had. Bilbo, whom Everin hadn't noticed till this point was awake and sitting at the table with the rest of the company, spoke up.
"There are others like you?"
"Once there were many,"
"And now?"
"Now there is only one," Of course, she should have realized. After all, there had been something in him that she had felt when first meeting him, something that made her break and spill all her locked feelings, (which shouldn't have been as easy as it was…), that made her feel a sort of familiarity with him, She just didn't know it was this. That they were both alone now in the world, that there was no one else like them anymore, at least as far as they knew. No one said anything for a moment, sort of like an unspoken sympathy was left to hang in the air. But Beorn didn't let the silence go on for very long, and walked back to sit by Gandalf, some of his animal friends landing on his shoulders or rubbing at his shins as he sat down in their own way of comfort, as if they understood what had been said as the discussion went on.
"You need to reach the mountain, before the last days of autumn?"
"Before Durin's day falls, yes." Thorin looked irritated all over again at how much the skin-changer seemed to know of their quest already, but shook it off all the same, since he knew there wasn't much else that he could do about it. By this point Gandalf and Beorn had been ignoring his annoyance at the skin-changer knowing more than he should, and Everin wondered if it were better in tact and social niceties if she did the same. The shape changer looked around the room from his seat, more than likely sizing up the strongest of their group, no doubt wondering and deliberating how long they would last against the Orc Pack that was hunting them.
"You are running out of time," They knew this, all of them were aware of how close the significant day was getting, and to Everin it always seemed with each passing day that it was mentioned, it was growing further and further from reach, lowering spirits somewhat amongst the company to the thought of reaching it at last. Gandalf nodded once at the skin changer's point of obviousness, and then added quickly to the list of things about their quest that Beorn was already aware of. Still, it made the story that Everin told him true, so really there wasn't much complaint about that when it came to the Witch's opinion.
"Which is why we must go through Mirkwood," Even after some time had passed for Everin to accept that that was their next destination on their journey to Erebor, the Witch's shoulders still managed to flinch at the name of the dark forest that lied ahead of them. Thankfully it seemed that her physical reaction went unnoticed by the rest of the company, or rather they might have chosen to ignore purposely. But whatever that case may be, Everin was still thankful it was ignored as the conversation went on to a more serious topic, as Beorn's logic of their situation stepped in to inform them of the harsher truth.
"A darkness lies upon that forest, foul things creep through those trees. There is an alliance between the Orcs of Moria and the Necromancer in Dul Guldor, I would venture there, except in great need." Why was he telling them this, when Everin had already informed him that the minds had been made up and the track had been set? Perhaps… he was trying to convince the Dwarves not to go there for her benefit as much as theirs or maybe he was just pointing out the logic of the situation as said before. Either way, he was warning them of the danger ahead, and Everin already knew that no matter what he said, Mirkwood was their next destination.
"We will take the Elvin Road, their path is still safe," And if nothing before this point aggravated Thorin, this certainly did as he finally turned away from the table, possibly angered since he was not only going to go through the territory of the Elvin King that had wrong him, but also was going to lead his company through paths laid down by the same King that had never helped them before this point. Everin watched him turn away, but quickly moved her head back to Beorn as he continued to talk, and was already starting to worry on where he was going with his tone and the things he said.
"Safe? The Wood Elves of Mirkwood are not like their kin, they are less wise, and more dangerous. But it matters not," Thorin, finally after keeping his silence for some time in the conversation, spoke up at the last of what Beorn had said. The rest of the company didn't seem to like where this was going as much as Everin did, and started watching the shape shifter more carefully as he spoke on after Thorin's question, his words holding more and more weight as the deep rumble that came from his voice seemed to hold more seriousness to it than it ever had before this point.
"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." Logic could be cold, like the steel on jail bars or the blade of ancient sword that had seen so much death. And in that moment after Beorn had spoken Everin felt something familiar to that cold, worse than the chill she had received before, swell from her toes to the very top of her head. She knew he spoke truly; there was nothing he would gain from lying. His logic was as sound as it was cold, and suddenly Everin felt very helpless as to what they were going to do to at least make it to that dreaded forest. And that feeling only grew as the shape changer spoke on, his tone turning more to anger than seriousness the more he spoke.
"I don't like Dwarves, they are greedy and blind. Blind to the lives they deem lesser than their own." He picked up a mouse that Nori had swiped of his arm and walked until he was towering over Thorin, the small mouse still in carefully held in his larger hand. The rest of the company was feeling ore on edge, Everin being sure that she had seen Dwalin and Fili reaching back to grab their weapons. The Witch didn't want to fight at that moment, and certainly not against Beorn, who had been kind enough to heal her wounds and council her on her fears when she finally broke. So, she decided it was on her to break the tension and get him to help them.
Everin reached out, her smaller hand, at least compared to his arm, touching the rough skin. There was a tense silence until finally she managed to look up at the skin changer, who she was relieved to see was looking down at her instead of still at Thorin. She felt so small at that moment, though that feeling was not something she wasn't unaccustomed to in her lifetime as much as she was familiar with the feeling of chains on her arms. But still she could never get her voice to carry more than one word whenever she felt like this, so she was at least relieved that there was only one word that she needed to say to convince him.
"Please,"
Another tense moment passed, and Everin was momentarily afraid that he would still refuse. Beorn looked down at her for another few moments, almost as if he were looking right into her very being. It felt as though he could see every scar in her soul, which was almost tallied up to the lines on her skin that always visually told the world exactly what she was, and why she was here. Then, Beorn turned back to Thorin, placing the small mouse in Everin's hands as he spoke next, his voice somewhat lightened, but there was still that feeling underneath, that the Witch had only just managed to convince him.
"But Orcs I hate more, what is it you need?"
What Thorin decided that the company needed was two days, nothing more or less than that as he said, very specifically, two whole days to recuperate, train and stock up for the next part of their long venture. Everin, at the very adamant request of Oin and oddly enough, the older Ri brothers and Bofur, went back to a bed roll that had apparently been sent up for her before hand, and slept for some time. When she did wake up, she wasn't really all that surprised to find that it was closer to nighttime again, the sun lowering to the point that the skies were now the color of burning orange.
There wasn't that many of the company in the home with her, and she could definitely hear the sounds of training going on outside so she knew were the rest of the company was. Inside the house was, as she remembered correctly, Ori, Dori, Bilbo, Oin, Balin, Bifur, Gandalf and Fili. Oin seemed to be looking over a bruise that Fili must have gotten from training, the younger Dwarf complaining all the while that he was fine and didn't need a healer's attention while Bifur seemed to be taking amusement in the situation. Ori and Bilbo seemed busy discussing something over a book that the Witch remembered always being on Ori's person at all times. Balin was having an equally engrossing discussion with Gandalf as they both looked over Thorin's map. Deciding it best not to interrupt them, the Witch went on outside to see what the others were up to in their training.
Immediately the first thing that caught her eye was the pairs of Thorin and Dwalin and Kili and Gloin sparing with their swords. Everin let her hand fall down to the sword that was attached to her belt; the one Thorin had given her not long after her exile from Rivendell. She had become somewhat attached to the weapon since then, since it had been to her, a token of kindness from a usually cold hearted king, his kindness being obviously frozen over by a cruel world. It was something she understood very well, having lived in that cruel side of the world for nearly all her life.
"Afternoon Lass, enjoy your sleep?" Bombur greeted her from his place. He was sitting on a log, looking over the training that the others were doing while washing some rather impressive vegetables in a large barrel of water. Everin smiled back and gained enough confidence to sit next to him and offer to assist him in his task. He thanked her and for some time they worked quietly together in comfortable silence, the Witch looking up every so often to see what the others were doing. Bofur and Nori were sparring as well, Bofur using his familiar mattock, Nori apparently using smaller daggers or knives that she couldn't really see. It was only until she had been watching them for a while that she noticed she had slowed down in her work and that Bombur was giving her a strange look, so she quickly made up a reason on why she had been watching the two Dwarves for so long.
"Nori doesn't really use a main weapon like the rest of the company," She noted, breaking the silence between the both of them as the larger Dwarf looked out over to the still sparring pair of his brother and his brother's friend. The star hair styled Dwarf's lack of main weapons had never really came to her attention until she actually found it as something to talk about. It wasn't really a query or anything, but the conversation that spawned from it was interesting enough in that she learned more about the people she had been travelling with, so she didn't really regret bringing it up.
"He likes to work mostly 'hands free' as it were; it suits better to his profession,"
"Profession?" Bombur had a look telling that it was something he shouldn't have said, but all the same it was said now and Everin wasn't going to let it past without getting the full reveal as to what he had meant by that. To Everin though, she was actually thinking rather innocently of Nori's profession when it was accidentally brought up, but when Bombur finally replied after a moment of silence, it became a little more obvious to her on exactly why the Dwarf had been a little less forth coming on Nori's work than on any other in the company.
"Nori is… well, he's well known in the Blue Mountains for causing trouble, and there are rumors of him being a... thief." Bombur looked to Everin then as they continued to wash the vegetables, and she wondered for a moment if she was supposed to have a more shocked or scandalized reaction than the sort of natural one she had now. Sure it was a little different to hear that one of their company was well known as a thief, but apart from that, the Witch wasn't really sure what it was she was supposed to say or do. After all, she couldn't really look down on him for this, since she would be two faced in her own actions if she did, and she wasn't going to convince him in some way that his rumored profession was wrong, since again she would be two faced since stealing was really the main portion of how she had managed to live to this point.
"Oh… that's interesting," Everin didn't really know what to say, so she decided that that was good enough, and was happy to allow the conversation to fade back into nothing but silence in which they had done their work before hand. Bombur however, had found her reply to be a little strange, and wondered if she had wanted to continue in the conversation that they had created. However, before the larger Dwarf could say anything more of her, they were interrupted by Thorin calling out to the Witch to speak with her. And, Everin noted as she gave a small bow to Bombur in departure and walked quickly over to see what the Dwarf King wanted of her, he had used her name again, with the formal Miss in front of it and everything.
"You are going to join Kili in learning long distance attacks," Thorin said shortly after calling his younger nephew as well to join them and informing him of the same circumstance. Everin nodded in understanding and acceptance, Kili doing the same, though she could see that he probably wasn't happy that he had to teach her instead of procrastinating like he was doing before. The younger nephew of Thorin led Everin back to the tree he had been near before, where she noticed he had drawn a red target on its trunk. The Dwarf then handed her some small knives that he seemingly pulled from nowhere (making the Witch wonder exactly how many weapons they all had on their person,) and started teaching her on throwing the knives to the centre target. She was about to do her first try, when they were interrupted by both Bofur and Nori.
"Ah good afternoon Evie, enjoy your rest?" Bofur greeted, receiving a quick smile in return as she looked back to the target in the tree, not wanting the Dwarf's rather distracting smile to loosen her concentration. But of course even when she was looking away the Witch knew well enough that he was grinning as well, and she was only missing it. Readying herself again to throw, she was of course interrupted, expect this time by both Nori and Kili, who were apparently arguing over who was supposed to be teaching her in throwing knives, or tactics using knives of any sort.
"Well Uncle said that I was supposed to teach her, so that's what I'm doing,"
"But no one else in the company is more an expert at this than me-"
It continued on, both Everin and Bofur watching for a while before the hat wearing Dwarf rolled his eyes to her, gesturing the continuous talking with his hands, and she giggled in reply, earning yet another concentration breaking smile before she looked back to the target on the tree, and finally bothered to throw the knife for the first time, not really noticing how it went since she figured that neither of her would be teachers were noticing either, therefore rending the importance of it moot. Bofur had noticed though, and actually surprised all three of them when he congratulated her on apparently hitting the target. Everin and the two Dwarves looked back to the tree's target and was surprised to see that it actually had hit it, just not exactly dead on, in fact it was just a little outside the center of the target.
"Try that again," Nori instructed, picking out a sleeker and smaller knife for the Witch to use in her next throw. She did so, this time paying more attention to the task at hand, and was pleasantly surprised when her knife hit the target dead on. Bofur cheered, the two other Dwarves just silently looked on while Everin allowed herself to give a small smile of her accomplishment. They made her throw the knives a few more times, a few of them managing to hit the centre as the other did while the rest sort of strayed just around it.
"It seems she needs practice, more than actual teachers' lads," Bofur teased, this apparently gesture shocking them out of some sort of revere that they had been in. Kili quickly wandered off to get something, while Nori supplied her with the same sort of sleek knives, before eventually starting build up to heavier ones, watching as she missed with the heavier ones, but managed quite well with the light knives she had been given in the first place. Kili eventually returned from wherever he had gone to get whatever it was he needed to fetch, Everin seeing immediately that what that something was, was his bow and a quiver of arrows.
"If she's good with the more smaller knives, I want to see how she'd do with a bow," The Dwarf told the other two when they asked after him fetching his main and mostly preferred weapon, handing it to her as he gave her quick instructions on how to hold the bow and use the arrows. It was while he was giving her this quick lesson that most of the other Dwarves that had been inside came out, the sight of the Witch holding Kili's bow being apparently something of interest as they went to watch as she attempted to hold the bow properly by herself, and more than once somehow ended up in inflicting herself with minor injuries.
"No, no you hold it like this," Fili, who had joined with the others from returning from inside the house, instructed as he held her hands in the proper places and showed her the proper stance, (neither him nor the Witch noticing his younger brother grumbling that he was supposed to be teaching her the whole time) before she finally was able to properly shoot the arrow. And of course it missed, and not just by a little bit, in fact it missed the tree altogether and instead just managed to also skim past a beehive that had been hanging on the tree behind it. But all the same, those larger than the average bees were still not impressed with the threat to their home. It took only a few moments of silence to be filled with angry buzzing that Kili managed to impart some valuable advice to his would be pupil, and the other Dwarves.
"Let's get back inside,"
They ran.
It took several apologies from Everin to Beorn later before the shape changer even bothered to somehow calm the bees of his estate down to the point that the group could go back outside, both the larger man and Gandalf trying to hide how amused they really were at the situation when Kili, Fili or Everin tried to explain it in a way so it didn't sound as bad as the Witch nearly shooting down the beehive by accident. Some of the other Dwarves of the company, Dwalin especially, were still chuckling under their breaths as Thorin scolded his two nephews and the Witch as if they were children for irresponsibly not checking if she was aiming it correctly or even that there weren't any beehives in the area.
After that, they were able to go back out and enjoy the last vestiges of the afternoon sun before it slunk back into night, the three apparent 'culprits' of the beehive crime having to continue to assist Bombur in washing the various fruits and vegetables for their food as punishment. Bofur and Nori had joined them, watching the three of them work instead of join in as they continued to talk, keeping the three 'perpetrators' and Bombur company as they worked. Fili and Everin didn't seem to bothered by the punishment, and certainly Kili wasn't above doing it either, it was more that he was annoyed at being punished as the other two.
"Well it was your bow Kili, and you did bring it out for her to use," Fili muttered as he scrubbed rather harshly at a potato that didn't seem to want to let go of the dirt that caked it. This statement was again followed by another in a long line (despite the short amount of time that had passed) of apologies from the Witch, who felt more that the two Dwarf princes shouldn't be joining her in the punishment, since it was her that fired the bow, only to be shot down again by Bofur before she could even get the words out, Fili and Kili meanwhile rolling their eyes at her new attempt to repent for getting them in trouble.
"Ah, don't worry about it Evie; they're no more at fault than you are. Tis' best to just get the job done and over with now and forget about it," It seemed that the hat wearing Dwarf could be the only one to convince her of this, since the others had tried before this point and failed, though when Bofur said this, instead of arguing she just sort of nodded her head and silently went back to her work, the others watching her before looking back at Bofur, a silent question in what he had managed to do, not that he could really give them an answer.
There was another bout of compatible silence, where the three and Bombur worked in silence, Bofur and Nori meanwhile smoking on the pipes that had survived through the events of their journey so far, somehow. Eventually though the work was finally finished and the three Dwarves and Everin were allowed to sit back, with wrinkled hands, but relax all the same with the others. Discussions managed to pick up again, the topic often moving to the fact of Everin and her use of knives and bows. While they were talking though, some of the rest of the company joined in as well, meanwhile Bofur shared some of his pipe weed with Everin, mostly giving her a reason not to actually pay all that much attention when it came to how she shouldn't really use a bow until she got proper training, since she didn't want to revisit that embarrassing discussion.
"Aye well, you'll only need some more training and practice later on with Kili before you're good to go with the bow anyway lass, your hand to eye co-ordination seems very spot on, it's getting use to the stance, weight and feel of it that's the problem," Dwalin muttered to her, his sight mostly being on the knives that were still stuck in the trunk of the tree, having been abandoned beforehand in their haste to get away from angry bees. Everin nodded, feeling a little too light-headed by the pipe weed to really feel that she should say anything. The other Dwarves seem to be in agreement, nodding their heads silently as the afternoon went on, slowly dragging its way to the twilight, the chirping of far off crickets eventually being heard.
"You are still coming with us aren't you?" Ori peeped out from his journal, which he had been drawing in while the light was still there, the environment around them apparently being too great a sight to pass up in his 'documenting' (as Dori had proudly called it) of their venture. The question mostly came out of nowhere, so the Witch was a little stumped for a moment before she finally managed to find her voice and answer the question, all the while trying not to feel the weight of the eyes of the company staring her down. She had forgotten that it mostly Beorn and Thorin who had heard her little confession of her going with them into the damned forest that she had tried so hard not to think of. But still, it wasn't as if the rest of the company didn't need the confirmation either, so she answered the question.
"Yes, I'm still coming with you,"
There was a relieved sigh from a few Dwarves she didn't expect, and Balin continued on the conversation.
"That's a relief lass, and I can tell you more than one of us was worried when you ran off out of the blue a few nights ago,"
Everin felt a tug at her smile that she couldn't resist and she twiddled her thumbs somewhat as she finally managed to reply back to him, the mischievous smirk she was wearing doing nothing to help a few Dwarves, who were beginning to catch on to her meaning.
"Well, I'm glad you've mentioned it since, I never really left the camp site altogether, you just couldn't see me,"
Balin nodded and smiled, going back to the pipe weed he was smoking, while some of the younger Dwarves in the company started to look a little more worried. Nori in particular looking as though there was something he was trying to say, but couldn't think of a good way to word it, his older brother on the other hand, was amused by this since he knew what it meant. Finally though it was Kili that managed to find something to say, and only felt even deeper in an embarrassing hole when Everin's cat smile seemingly grew bigger after he had spoken.
"Wait, does that mean you heard…"
"Oh, I heard a lot of things,"
That seemed to get the rest of the company's attention; especially Thorin's who had not really known of the discussion that transpired that night. But apparently he was going to find out now, his voice sounding a little serious, but she could see that there was something else behind it, but perhaps that could have been because he was starting to see the reactions of his fellow company members in relation to what she was saying.
"What sort of things?" The king questioned, and Everin was only too happy to answer the Dwarf King, the other Dwarves looking only more shocked and embarrassed when she replied, apart from Balin and Dwalin, who didn't seem all that interested. Nori on the other hand, was looking as ripe as a tomato, Bofur and Ori not being that far behind him. Fili and Kili had found the darkening sky especially interesting all of a sudden; meanwhile Bombur, Bifur and Dori, Gloin and Oin were taking the absolute amusement out of the embarrassment of their fellow kin, their smirks almost as big as Everin's when she spoke next.
"Preferences mainly,"
Nori groaned, his head falling into his hands as he spoke through the fingers, the redness of his ears still showing how mortified he was.
"You heard it didn't you?"
Everin had to stifle her giggles as she finally admitted to it.
"Oh I heard all of it, in fact I'm even thinking of growing a beard,"
That had apparently done it, since there was a sudden burst of laughter from Dwalin of all people, (since he had beforehand not looked the slightest interested in the conversation) his brother Balin, Bombur, Bifur, Gloin, Oin and Dori following not long afterwards. Thorin was even smiling, it was a small smile but still one all the same as she could see the laughter in his usually hardened eyes, this being one of the few times that the Witch had ever seen him done so, so she took the small smile she received with gratefulness. Their other kin meanwhile looked ready to bury themselves in humiliation, but of course she couldn't let them feel too bad for long. After all, Everin had never really teased like she did that night, so she was a little afraid that they actually might be upset with her for teasing them so openly to the rest of the company, so she tried pleading with them.
"Please don't be mad at me, I thought what you said was kind of nice, really," She smiled especially to Ori, not forgetting his rather strange confession liking the lines on her skin, and he had managed to smile back through the red in his face. Everin then looked back at Bofur, who was trying to hide his red face with his hat, so she leaned forwards a little bit, head cocked to the side so she could see into his eyes, happier than usual to see that he had smiled back at her and wasn't mad at her for her intentionally light-hearted teasing, in fact she felt a lot happier than when she was sure that none of the others were angry at her when she was sure of Bofur not being upset. But of course, when remembering their decent form the Carrock, she couldn't resist in saying a little more.
"Though my hair is still nice right?"
There was a moment's pause, and the Witch feared she'd taken her unusual teasing too far with someone she really liked.
"Aye, Tis' beautiful Evie, but only if my smile is too,"
Really the two of them had forgotten that there were other people there, especially Bofur's kin, who looked a little more interested now in the interaction between the two of them than before. However, before anything else could be said, (or anymore quick looks could be traded between the hat wearing Dwarf and Witch), Beorn suddenly appeared (making the Dwarves and Witch both jump in surprise and wonder how they could not have heard him coming, or even how long he had been standing there) and asked after Everin, gesturing to follow him as he led her away from the rest of the group.
"Well," Nori said, breaking the silence that was created after her leaving, "We all know now who Everin's intended is after all,"
"Nori!" Dori snapped at his younger brother, smacking him upside the head as he always seemed to need to do when the star hair shaped brother seemed to say things at the wrong times. However, it seemed that this usually sensitive subject was still up for discussion by the rest of the Dwarves in the company, as Bofur saw fit to argue against that claim.
"She was only teasing Nori; there was nothing else behind it," But all the same his thief friend just snickered, not believing Bofur for a moment in his weaker defense. It seemed as though none of the rest of the Company believed him either and that went especially with his cousin and brother, who were looking at him with very identical eyebrow raises and questioning glances to the retreating back of the Witch that only could reinforced the fact that those two Dwarves were related. Bombur continued where Nori left off, his own observation proving pretty important when it came to the side of the intentions of the Witch and hat wearing Dwarf.
"Aye she might have been brother, but she's not the one that called ye beautiful," Especially since Bofur had been apparently talking of her hair, which in Dwarven culture meant quite a bit when the apparent beauty of it was admitted to the person, which was why his kin had first let it slip that he had said that when they thought the Witch had not been listening, but now she apparently did know, and not only that but it had been confirmed in front of all of them. So now the larger but younger Dwarf knew without a doubt that his brother had some sort of intentions towards the only female member of their Company, and not only that, but she might have some intentions for him as well.
Bifur muttered words in their ancient language of Khuzudul, and Bofur shook his head, his blush also reaching his ears now at the implication of his cousin's words.
"Ah now yer just being daft cousin, I ain't never-"
"Either way, no matter what your or even her real intentions may be, I suggest you be careful Laddie. We already know what kind of damage she can do when she's truly out of control," Balin muttered from his pipe, the rest of the Company that hadn't spoken yet nodding quietly with the older Dwarf. Indeed they all remembered what Nori had told them while Everin had been sleeping the very night after the incident with Azog, how the Dwarf thief had apparently seen more of her red lined side that night than the rest of them, who either hadn't been near her or were too busy fighting to see.
"Her clawed hand just went right through that Orc's chest…" Nori muttered as he looked to the water barrel that was still sitting between them all, his good mood and joking with his friend suddenly soured by the mere memory of it. But Bofur was apparently having none of that doubt, and instead defended what he still wanted to say was not a woman he 'intended' anything towards, but was just a friend.
"Everin wouldn't hurt us,"
"Not intentionally," Thorin rumbled from his place, "But even she has doubts on her control,"
"I think she doubts herself because others doubt her as well," Before their King could really test on what Bofur had said however, Balin thankfully interrupted. Which was a blessing in disguise, since of the company (apart from family of course) had ever seen the miner Dwarf react this way, especially to his King of all people. Now they were defiantly certain, no matter what the Dwarf seemed to say otherwise in defense form the point on, that there was something there between him and Everin, and it was possibly more than just friendship, though Bofur himself may not yet realize that himself.
"Either way, like I said before ya still need to be careful Laddie. Everin, at least as far as we know, hasn't really been around people as long or like us, her emotions might be underdeveloped when it comes to expressing it to others, she might get carried away, and whether she means to or not…" Balin let himself wander off from the rest of that sentence; not really needing to elaborate any further for the rest of the group as they knew well enough what he was talking about. But Bofur still apparently didn't believe it, and he wasn't exactly alone in the group in his opinion, Ori also seemed to be agreeing with him, but was too shy to really speak up for it.
However the conversation never grew past that point, as instead they decided, since it was growing further into night, to go back inside. All of them then sat quietly around the fireplace, all of them thinking quietly to themselves on their own. Bofur couldn't think of anything else to say, since he really didn't want to start a fight with the rest of the Company for a reason that he knew well enough that they somewhat agreed with him anyway but just had a different opinion about the situation, especially since they seemed to think that he was interested in being in a relationship with her.
Which obviously wasn't true… right?
"A bath has been drawn for you," Beorn had said simply to Everin when walking her away from the group and back into the house as he led her to enter a secluded room that she hadn't actually noticed before this point, and was not all that unsurprised to find some animals exiting the room as they were apparently finished in setting it up for her use. Everin thanked the shape changer again for his charity and apologize once more for the whole beehive incident, but when she looked up from her little customary bow, she found that he had disappeared and left her to her devices of the Bathing room. The tub that had been set for her was about the size of half the room, filled with such warm water that she could see the steam rising from it.
Feeling even more nervous than she ever had with the group of Dwarves when it came to them all bathing in the same river, since even then she was at least wearing most of her clothes, and wasn't completely alone so nothing bad could possibly happen to her, (though really Everin knew well enough that she was unlikely to really come under any harm in Beorn's home,) Everin still undressed and slipped quickly into the water though, feeling relief in certain muscle joints that she didn't now were stressed until this point. After taking that small moment just to feel the relief that the hot water gave, Everin looked around what was the Bathing room of Beorn's home. Somehow the shape changer had gotten hold of what was used as a full length mirror, though Everin knew well enough that it was just a well polished long piece of metal.
Following a good soak and finally getting the chance to wash her hair free from the events of the past few days, Everin allowed herself a moment between getting out of the tub and quickly dressing herself again look over her reflection. Usually she would avoid this sort of thing, since she always thought that the lines on her arms and face were a constant reminder enough to her of what she was, and what she couldn't ever even dream to be. But that wasn't apparently how the curse worked, because otherwise there would have been some kind of mercy behind it.
No, there was not one part of her skin that was left unmarked by the lines, not one single part.
All at once, Everin felt her once normally blank expression crumble inward slightly, and even saw it in the reflection, as she remembered being so much younger, and trying for so long to just scrub out those lines from her skin, as if such an ineffective action could possibly work. She remembered more than once going as far as to make the skin red raw in the attempts before she ever even tried to finally understand that nothing about her skin was going to change. It was why she had hated and always tried not to look at her… full appearance, because all she ever saw was those lines, the horrible memories and consequences that they carried with them.
It made her feel inhuman, like she was nothing more than an animal.
Inside she feels it pent up, the animal instinct, the growl of a feral animal, ready to strike at any moment…
A knock at the door silenced her thoughts.
"... Miss Everin?"
Everin had to look to her reflection again before she was even aware there was a tear waiting to be wiped away. Sniffing the emotions back fast as she always did and moving quickly, Everin got herself dressed and at least somewhat respectable looking again, before even bothering to reply back to the voice on the other side of the door. Thankfully her voice wasn't wobbly or anything else that could be a sign to the other person that she had been upset, though of course that was met with the constant feeling of her trying to swallow down the lump in her throat.
"Yes?"
There was no answer for a moment, and the Witch wondered if the person on the other side had wanted her to open the door and greet them face to face. Rubbing at the back of her neck she did so, and was greeted by the sight of Dori. The older brother of Ri had never really spoken to Everin before this point, so she was a little surprised to see him there, but all the same she knew she should stick to the manners she knew, and didn't mention this to him. But really she wasn't sure if she could get a word in, since as soon as she opened the door he started the conversation, then quickly walked off, expecting her to follow.
"We need to talk,"
She watched him go for a moment, before quickly following after him.
"O-okay,"
He led her back through the house, the other Dwarves having also returned back from their training. Dori led her quickly past them as they were sitting around a fireplace, so she was only able to give them a quick smile of greeting before walking on. The older brother took her back to Beorn's table, which wasn't that far from the fireplace, but enough way all the same that their discussion could not be overheard. There was an awkward silence for a while as they both sat on different sides of the table. Everin wasn't sure now if it was supposed to be her that said something next, which she certainly hoped it wasn't the case since she didn't know what to say. But that was apparently fine, since Dori wasn't done talking.
"Um…"
"There is a few Dwarf customs that we do need to talk about-" Everin immediately thought that he was actually referring to the fact that she had helped Ori, and started talking about it before actually listening further to know that it actually wasn't what the Dwarf had been talking about at all (though of course Dori knew that that was something they still needed to discuss). So she interrupted him, but of course she got the same treatment as Beorn started to speak to the Company as a whole. His voice was still as soft but rumbled as it had usually been during their whole stay, but for some reason no matter how reasonably loud the Company had been at the time, they all still fell quiet when he started to talk.
"-Oh, yes I know, Gandalf told me about me about this. But I don't want you to pay me back or anything-"
"-I must go out for the night to see over the area. I will tell you this only once though, no matter what you hear or think, none of you can go outside whatsoever," He then left out the door, and was gone. He didn't come back again for the rest of that night, and he was certainly right when he said that there would things that they would hear. But those noises didn't start until a little while after he had left for the night. Everin had used the interruption by Beorn to escape the near argument with Dori, and moved back to near the fireplace where the others were. Unfortunately though, this seemed to be a bit of a mistake since as soon as she thought nothing bad was going to happen, the noises started.
Moreover that noise, which continued on for the rest of the night, though certainly wasn't anything she didn't expect. But all the same it was the noises that she, with the rest of the Company of course, did not want to really hear. Especially in the fact that it was hard to neither sleep nor not be paranoid when hearing it. It was the sounds of what were obviously Orcs, Wargs, and Beorn, fighting rather viciously and for a very long time. And it seemed no far away it was, they could still hear all of it. Though it especially wasn't all that great since it only took a little time in the beginning of what was obviously the sound of Orcs trying to get to them in this house, for the Dwarves to point out that Everin's lines, were having that sheen of red that made no one feel that more comfortable about the place they were in.
Since it was no good to have packs of Wargs and Orcs that wanted to get in and kill them all, it was even worse to have an angry Witch locked in with them.
And there was no one that agreed with that more than Everin.
"So what do we do?" Bilbo said from his seat, Everin having moved herself to the other side of the room, away from the others for what she said was their own safety more than hers. She was visibly upset, clutching tightly onto one of her hands as the long and sharpened fingernails were starting to grow. Gandalf was attempting to talk to her all the while, trying to convince her that she had control and there was nothing that could stop her from changing but herself. The rest of the company meanwhile, just watched on as she grew more and more upset over the passing of time and the continued noises that never seemed to end outside.
"I don't know, I don't know what to do, I don't-" She was muttering to herself, squeezing the offending hand in her grip only tighter, and of course that only caused her harm more than it did fix the situation, so some of the older Dwarves and Gandalf attempted to get her to calm down and let go of her arm so they could figure out what was the best thing to do in a calmer situation. No one tried really to get closer to her until this point, which was when Bofur tried to intervene, and had taken a few steps towards her, his hand outstretched to take hers.
"Getting' upset will only make it worse Evie, ya need to calm down," He was almost about to touch her hand, when she shirked away from him, somehow pressing herself closer into the corner she'd gotten herself into. Since the Dwarf was facing her, Everin was really the only one who could see the hurt in his expression with what she continued to say, which only made her feel even more guilt and upset, which really didn't help with her not getting more red in her lines.
"No! Don't touch me… Please, I don't want to hurt you,"
The rest of the Company had grown quiet as well after what she had said, Bofur closing his eyes and looking away when he'd realized that she'd seen the distress in them. Everin had started breathing heavier and even more disjointedly, which if anything could only be an even worse sign of what was going on or what was to come, so Bofur quickly turned to Gandalf, wanting to defuse this situation now, before anything else could happen that obviously was not going to end well.
"Isn't hitting her over the head with your staff going to work?"
"Not all the time, and certainly not now I'm afraid, what she needs to do is calm down, but she's too afraid to listen to anyone,"
Dori, who had watched the whole situation with his younger brothers firmly stuck behind him for their own safety, was usually not someone who just took chances in things (in fact he was more the person that would nag Nori for doing so), but this seemed like the situation where he apparently would have to do just that, since no one else could really take action. So despite the advice against the contrary of not just Gandalf, but the rest of the company, Everin included, he walked closer to her than Bofur had, and kneeled down to her level, his voice not changing in tone as he spoke. It wasn't completely harsh, but at the same time it wasn't too soft either. Whatever level it really was on, it was apparently one that got her to at least breathe more calmly, though her fingernails didn't recede too much in length and the red was still in the lines on her skin.
"Look at me, ignore any of the noise outside just pay attention to me," Dori gently grabbed her wrists when he was sure that she was concentrating on him, and moved them both down to the floor on either side so she couldn't move them to hurt him or herself as the nails finally started to recede inwards. Her breathing had finally calmed completely as he continued to talk, taking her attention to himself as he spoke evenly still. Dori was use to calming people down in the past, having done it more than once not just in the case of Nori as he was growing up, but also since he was at one time a trainer of other Dwarf soldiers, and knew how to deal with them when their anger got out of hand.
But a Witch was a whole new ball game, and he knew that well enough. In fact it was just as much as he also knew that whether or not he was the strongest Dwarf in the company (which, to not toot his own horn, but he was), no one knew the real strength of her when she got riled up. And fortunately though it seemed that tonight was not going to be a time when they would find out, since finally it seemed that she had finally managed, with Dori's assistance, to calm down enough that the red in the lines on her skin disappeared and the nails receded back to normal size.
As much as Dori knew how to calm someone down, he also knew as a 'mother hen' (as Ori and Nori had always accused him of being) when someone was either physically or mentally exhausted, and at that time Everin was both. So as soon as he was completely sure that she was under her own control, he helped her to her feet and moved her back to her bed roll, being as gentle as he ever was when carrying a tired Nori or Ori when they were Dwarflings to bed also. She was asleep before her head even touched the pillow (made of Nori's jacket at his older brother's forceful request), so Dori gently moved away, and looked over to the rather shocked or impressed looks he received from his kin and company, his sarcastic reply cutting through the silence.
"What? Have none of ye ever seen a sleeping Lass before?"
Everin woke up earlier in the morning, but not nearly early enough that Beorn wasn't there already, watching over the rest of the company as they slept as well. They greeted each other for the morning; the shape changer even setting up some bread and warm milk for her breakfast, which she of course thanked him for, never being to forget her manners, even if she sometimes lost her control. That thought, brought her back to remembering what had happened last night, and, unlike many other times where the memories were blocked from her, she remembered this very clearly, and because of that had lost her appetite as she gently moved the plate of half eaten bread away from her, feeling the usual squeamishness in her stomach.
"Feeling ill?"The Witch turned quickly to see Nori standing behind her seat, a crooked smile on his face as he walked and sat next to her. Looking mostly at her hands, Everin nodded quietly in reply, feeling more ashamed of herself the more she remembered over what had apparently taken place last night, though of course she couldn't be more than thankful to Dori for getting her under control, something that actually hadn't happened before that night. Nori seemed to figure that she really wasn't in the talking mood, not that he could blame her, and kept to himself as the others began to wake up as well.
The silence as everyone in the company had their breakfast at the table was very thick and palpable, but all the same, like many other times, it was blissfully and finally broken by someone eventually, though who that person turned out to be and why they were doing so was more of a surprise than anything else, since Everin had already decided on the thought that everyone was mostly going to ignore her from now on, (at least that was what she had feared at the time what with her nearly losing her control and such), and certainly she did not expect them to ask any more questions about her 'kind' whatsoever.
"Miss Everin?" She looked up at Ori, who was sitting not that far from her, the rest of the company no doubt doing the same if they weren't busy eating their own food or talking amongst themselves of stocking up or training and such things.
"Can Witches fly?"
There was an unexpected snort of laughter from the Grey Wizard from his seat as he was once again smoking on his pipe, the smirk not being as well hidden by the pipe smoke as he might have thought. Though of course the second half of what she said next only made him chuckle under his breath even more, which did manage to gain the attention of some others of the group.
"No Ori, no they cannot, at least I certainly can't,"
"Why is Gandalf laughing?" Bilbo asked curiously as he attempted to drink from the mug that really as too big for the human sized Everin before giving up and looking over at the Witch, who was glaring half-heartedly at Gandalf in silent reply to his also somewhat silent laughter. The Hobbit noticed her roll her eyes irritably at the Grey Wizard's antics before bothering to answer the question, though of course he didn't need the keen sight of a Hobbit to see that she was somewhat smiling as well, but trying with more effort than him to at least hold it back.
"Because when I was much younger I found that fact out the hard way-"
"-By climbing to the tallest tree that you saw, broom in hand with every intention of jumping off," Gandalf finished, smirking at her half hearted glare as Beorn was snickering beside him as well now. Everin huffed sarcastically and continued on, since she was apparently not done digging herself a deeper hole of embarrassment as the other Dwarves of the Company who had been paying attention to the antics of the Witch and Wizard, had taken to snickering into their large mugs of mead so as to somehow escape her sharp look at them.
"You said you were going to be watching me,"
"'Watching as you foolishly endangered yourself for a foolish endeavor' was the wording I think I used before you jumped out of the tall tree, fell for a short amount of time before you finally met with the ground, and broke your arm as a reward for all your efforts,"
"Oh it wasn't even a scratch! You were over reacting as I remember it!"
"You were also unconscious as I remember it, so you were not there to see if I was over reacting or not,"
"I was not-"
It went back and forth from this point for a time, the wise Wizard and Witch suddenly reminding some of the company members of a parent and child squabbling over the details of a moment in time, but of course there was more humor inside than there usually would be in that situation. Ori grinned at his two older brothers, it definitely reminded the young scribe of when those two would go off in a tiff, but of course with less yelling and more snarky well meant come backs. The two magic using beings had never really interacted like they had before in front of the group, which opened to the idea that Everin was beginning to open up more and let people know the real person she was underneath.
The grin that flashed across the Witch's face as she continued in her banter with the Wizard showed that she wasn't being serious about the situation, the Wizard still chuckling to himself as she too started to break down into giggles while Gandalf started to describe to Beorn how she had fell out of the tree like a stone and landing just has loudly as one to. The Dwarves that had raised Dwarflings of their own, or their kin smirked in reminder of the actions of their younger kin, as the recklessness seemingly reminded her picture perfectly of the actions of a younger Dwarf. Fili was already snickering as he started relaying to Everin the actions of his younger when he was a Dwarfling, causing her to break out in another fit of giggles, Thorin not being able to smirk in the corner of his mouth at the memories like Fili had.
Merriment continued on for the rest of the morning before they eventually had to finally go out and continue to stock up and train for the day. As they all moved to go outside to do as Thorin had ordered beforehand, Everin having to go with Bofur, Dori and Ori to pick apples, the Witch and Dwarf Scribe needing to be the ones to climb up and pick the riper apples as the branches were apparently not thick enough to take the weight of the strongest Dwarf in the Company, and the toymaker. Though of course there was one or two snickers in relation to her climbing up a tree were in order as they remembered the story related to them by her and Gandalf.
"Okay just climb up there, find the good ones, and try not to fly," Dori warned as he and his youngest brother apparently couldn't help themselves and giggled while Everin climbed up the ladder that had been provided them beforehand. Bofur on the other hand, hadn't spoken really a word during the day, especially to her. It was something she tried not to dwell on, since it hurt really badly no matter how she tried to justify it for him so that she didn't feel as though it was her fault. But no matter how she tried to go around it, she still felt as though it was her fault, and that he must have been upset with her for what she had told him the night before.
"Ori try putting the apples to your ear and tapping it to see if its ripe," Everin advised the youngest Ri brother, who thanked her for her advice as they continued on to pick the fruits from the branches and carefully dropped them down to the baskets that the two other Dwarves were holding underneath them. Everin, despite the advice she had given Ori, was having a hard time to find any really good apples, so she tried to reach a little further up to find any other apples that were above her head, despite the advice of Dori and Ori. And of course it wasn't any good for her pre conceived image as someone who often slept in trees during her lifetime that she slipped and fell from the tree, falling to the ground below.
Thankfully though, she was caught by someone before she got to see the short stop at the bottom again and broke another limb.
"Thanks Dori," She muttered as the Dwarf that had caught her was holding her in a very gentle but strong bridal style, only to look over and see the oldest Ri brother she had thought caught her, standing not that far away from her, and had certainly not caught her and was holding her at that moment. Looking up to her catcher the first thing she saw being the material of a familiar hat, and felt as though she could not be capable of digging herself a deeper hole of self pity and embarrassment. The Toy making Dwarf however, just gently (in fact as gently as he had caught her) placed her back on her feet while she attempted to rectify her thanks.
"Um sorry…I mean… Thank you Bofur,"
She climbed back up the ladder, ears burning and quickly got back to her work of trying her best to find the best apples possible for the rest of the Company, trying again to ignore the snickers of the younger and older brothers of Ri, instead all she could really sense and feel were the eyes of the hat wearing Dwarf watching her every move even more carefully than before. And though she would never admit it to anyone, since she preferred it as something to keep to herself, she did feel the smallest of shivers at the feeling of it, and even if she ever admitted that to someone, the part she would mostly keep to herself, would be that for the first time, it wasn't a shiver of revulsion.
In fact it was sort of… nice.
Bofur still hadn't spoken to her for the rest of the day as the four of them finished collecting apples, then moved on to pears, and other kinds of fruits as well. And all the while she was forced to speak mostly to Ori and Dori for the rest of the day, learning more about them as they worked. And Everin found that she really enjoyed their presence, and could have plenty of fulfilling discussions with Dori on the ripeness of fruits and vegetables and how to tell when something was rotten on the inside when it didn't seem so. Dori would tell her in return about the cooking of meat, since it was something that Everin had found she was never all that good at cooking meat in her life, since it always came out to tough and such, so she did find his advice to cooking meat to be very interesting to her curiosity.
Later on that afternoon when they turned in for the night, carrying various baskets of fruit that they assisted Bombur with turning into jams and such at the governing of the (what she found out that night was) chef side of Bombur and mother hen (as Ori had told her) of Dori in how to go about it. But eventually the jars that Beorn had provided them with were filled with the jams and jellies that they had made; they were allowed to retire with the rest of the Company to the bed rolls, but of course for some reason Everin wasn't feeling all that tired just yet, so she got to continue on discussing various cooking ideals with Bombur and Dori, the Ur brother's cousin Bifur sitting and listening to them as they talked, though every so often she would talk to him as well since she didn't want to be rude and leave him out even though he couldn't directly talk back to her in a way that she understood, though of course Bombur didn't translate it for her so it wasn't so bad.
The younger Ur brother Bombur and Dori eventually went to sleep though, so both she and Bifur were left still awake, Everin feeling a little restless still, but now was unfortunately unable to really talk to the Dwarf anymore. It was while she was lamenting this fact to the Dwarf that he gestured for her to wait, and then walked off somewhere. The Witch heard the subtle sounds of him kicking someone awake and dragging them out of bed with him, but of course she really didn't react to it until she saw that the person he had decided to wake up was Bofur.
However, the reaction still didn't completely set in until suddenly Bifur just walked over to his bed roll and left them alone as he apparently had gone to sleep. Everin watched the other Dwarf for a moment before looking back at Bofur who seemed a little more annoyed at the cousin than she actually was. But instead of going off and lying back down to sleep, he instead sat down next to her as she moved over to the dying embers of the fireplace, wanting to keep somewhat warm as she had given the coat back to Bofur earlier that morning, since she felt too badly to continue to keep wearing it.
"Damned cousin of mine, always planning ahead," Was the first thing she had heard him say for the whole day, and he sent her another smile for the first time that day that for some reason made her feel so much better already. He left them both in silence for a little while longer, Everin being a little too unsure in what she was supposed to do or what she was supposed to say, yet again for the second time in two days. Eventually though she decided to go with what she had wanted to say to him the whole day.
"I'm sorry, about what I said last night… I didn't-" she looked away, feeling the prickling in the side of her eyes as she remembered how she had shirked away from him, fearful that that hand that was reaching out to help could be seriously damaged, that any part of him in the way he was could be hurt, by her of all people. It was something she couldn't ever allow to happen, especially not to him, because she really did care for Bofur as a very close and possibly one of her first friends, and so pleaded for him to stay away, stay safe, from her.
No! Don't touch me, please… I don't want to hurt you,
"Ah Evie," Was what he managed to get out before he quickly dragged her into a one armed hug as they were both sitting next to one another by the dying light of the fireplace. Her face was snuggled into his shoulder, feeling the softness of his braid against her cheek as she sniffled repeatedly, not wanting to cry again in the space of three days. His hand was on her back, the other on the back of her head as he rubbed her hair, decidedly not telling the Witch that he could again smell her hair, the scent not being embarrassingly pushed away like he had done before, and instead, since he was sure now that there was lesser of a chance that the others of the Company wouldn't walk in on her doing so.
"I was just trying to keep you safe from me," She cried pathetically into his shoulder, the voice being muffled by his coat while he just nodded in reply, having not felt any better the whole day in not talking to her than she had in being ignored by him. But all the same he had felt so hurt in the fact that he had been unable to help her when she was in need, and whatever he might feel for her he still hated the thought that he couldn't help somebody when they obviously needed somebody's help. So he thought that, for whatever reason he wasn't really sure of now, that he should keep his distance from her since he apparently couldn't help her when she really needed it.
"I know, I'm sorry for ignoring ya Lass, I just felt bad that I couldn't help you when ye really needed it,"
"You couldn't have helped me, I'm not capable of being helped when I'm like that, I'm… I'm a monster," She had pulled a little aways from the hug when she said this, feeling herself crumble a little apart inside when she said the words that had always been spat her way by numerous sources, and not once since she was a child, had she ever tried to really deny them, but to have her say them about herself, made it all the more real. But instead of any reaction she may have been expecting, (though really she wasn't sure why she thought that), like him just agreeing with her and accepting the fact that he couldn't have helped her for instance. Instead he reacted by his hands suddenly moving to both sides of her face so that she was looking him in the eye, as he spoke to her.
"You're not a monster Evie, you're not,"
the Witch looking back at Bofur while he spoke so seriously, more so than she had ever seen him do for the time that she had known him, that she couldn't help but nod to what he was saying. Meanwhile though, Everin hadn't really fully process what the closeness between the two of them in that moment must have meant to him. At least not until he touched his forehead against hers, his hands being still as gentle as ever as his hands moved down to hold her own. They stayed this way for a while, Everin and holding his hands back just to be assured that he was actually there with her in that moment, before finally he pulled away from her, his hands letting go of her's before he finally spoke again.
"Time to get some sleep Evie, It's going to be a long day tomorrow," Bofur murmured gently, before he suddenly pressed his lips against her forehead, but the action was so quick that it was hard to tell that that was what had happened, and even if it did, as soon as it was over he was gone again, having moved back to his own bed roll and left her alone to her thoughts, where of course the only thing she seemed to wonder for those few moments before she curled up back into her own bed roll, was whether or not that had actually happened, or if she had just dreamed it all up.
Though she had to admit, it was a nice dream if it was.
Before Everin knew it, morning came and their time of being guests at Beorn's home had finally ran out, so Everin was helping the Company on their last morning to tie the new bags and satchels of supplies to the beautiful ponies that Beorn had offered to them to ride to the Mirkwood's beginnings. The large dog that had been friendly to her on the first day watched her work for a while, before quickly moving back into the shape changer's home. The Witch thought nothing of this as she continued to work with the Dwarves to ready themselves for travel, at least until the dog came back out carrying the strangest thing in its mouth. Everin knelt by the dog, scratching it behind the ears as it dropped the item on the cleaner part of the grass for her to see.
It was a simple black tunic, a small brown belt with a pouch being provided as well, but to Everin it was well worth its weight in gold, since clothes had always been something of a problem, since she found herself in more situations where she stole clothes rather than clothes were offered to her as a gift. A thankful smile quickly made its way at her lips when she noticed the sudden reappearance of the shape changer as he stood on the other side of the large friendly dog, patting affectionately at its head as he spoke to Everin.
"The tunic is made of tougher material than your previous clothing; it will not tear quite so easily." Everin had no doubt that she could never pay back such kindness, and went to tell the shape changer so, when he held out one of his large hands to stop her before she could even speak a word. His other hand gently took her own, holding it up as he spoke more gently than she had previously thought possible, a quick blush making its way across her cheeks as she was well aware that the rest of the company were watching this exchange.
"There is no need for repayment for this kindness, certainly not from the spirit daughter of the Lady of Light," Her face only grew redder as he gently kissed her hand in the formality that she had never been custom to before this point. And of course it went through her mind quickly again that the rest of the company were seeing this, all of it. She tried to think of something to say, but of course embarrassment frequently labored at her ability to talk and she was left for a while silently stand there with a heated face and nothing good to say. Beorn seemed to save her somewhat on words as he continued on talking, filling the silence with words as he let her hand go.
"We may never speak words nor see one another again, but it brings light to this part of the world for me to know that I was able to heal the wounds and see into the soul of such a beautiful being as yourself," Again, that was the second time in never that she had been called beautiful, and still she wasn't able to really believe he had said it. It lightened something in her heart, which had never really felt so much emotion in years before this night, and happiness was certainly so foreign to her. Everin walked quietly back to the Company and climbed herself up to the saddle of the horse that she was going to share with Gandalf, the older Wizard being behind her and holding the reins so she was protected by him at all sides should they be attacked while heading towards the Mirkwood.
"Go now, while you still have the light," Was the last Everin ever got to hear from the shape changer as the Horses galloped off to their new destination, the Witch holding on tight as they moved fast, Beorn's house becoming a speck in the distance in really no time at all. It did put a little weight into the Witch's heart to know that she was unlikely to ever see Beorn again, but all the same she tried to keep her hopes up and for once, tried to look on the brighter side of things as they rode on. After all, she reasoned to herself, they were probably more than halfway to Erebor, and if the Dragon was dead, (as she had heard many than one mutter form the Dwarves of the company hoping that that was the case,) then that meant the journey itself was nearly over as well, and the Dwarves would soon have their kingdom, their home back.
But… what will happen to me when they do?
"I can see the Mirkwood up ahead!"
Please review, constructive criticism always welcome.