After that they looked for a way down and found some old stairs. All of them had their weapons ready, expecting an attack from the orcs at any time. Luckily they made it down without the pursuers being in sight.
Thorin send Bilbo to take a look around since he was the smallest one of them. They had to wait for a while silently, but eventually Bilbo returned. "The orc pack is not far behind. But there is something else…" "Did someone see you? They saw you, right?" Someone asked quietly "No, that's not it-" "Good, good." Bilbo tried again to say something, but was interrupted
"Geez, shut the hell up! Bilbo has more to say!" Alex whispered angrily and the others got quiet immediately. "I wanted to tell you that there is something else out there! Something bigger!" He added "What form does it take. The one of a huge bear?" "Umm yes!" "You knew of that beast? What do we do now?" Bofur asked afraid.
"There is a house nearby where we could find shelter!" Gandalf explained "And whose house is it? Friend or foe?" Thorin asked "Neither!" Thorin looked displeased "What other chance do we have?" Just then a roar filled the air "I am afraid, none!"
And again they started to run. Gandalf led them out of the mountain area and into the forest. Soon they ran out of the forest and into a meadow and saw a house in front of them "This is it!" He yelled when a huge bear broke through the bushes behind them. Bombur started to run faster and faster, fear making him pass by all the others.
They arrived at the door, but it was locked. "Nooo!" Caelin yelled when the bear leaped at Alex. Alex put her arms in front of her head to protect herself, but the impact never came. Confused she opened her eyes and saw that she was surrounded by a shimmering light, keeping the beast away. The light got brighter and brighter.
Meanwhile Gandalf managed to get the door open. "Inside!" He yelled and Thorin pulled Alex with her. Gandalf locked the door just in the right time, when the bear crushed into it. Alex was trying to catch her breath.
"What was that?" Thorin asked her, after he checked on his company. She shook her head "I have no idea. But I think it was this." She took the evenstar into her hand. "It felt like it was burning!" Gandalf touched the evenstar and felt it slightly vibrating.
He sighted as he recognized the faint hint of magic. He had sensed that magic before and he did not like the thought that she would have any connection to this particular elf. He shot a short glance over to Thorin. "We should get some rest. We will be safe here tonight!" He told the company and looked for a place to lie down.
Oin approached Alex "We really should take care of your wound now." Alex nodded facilitated and followed the older dwarf into a different room "You need to take off you tunic." Oin asked her carefully and she removed her tunic without a second thought, but pressed her tunic onto her chest. Oin inspected the wound carefully. "That's a deep cut, but clean. Thankfully it is not infected and it should heal properly.
"You should stitch it up. It can heal better that way." Oin glared at her, when she offered her suggestion. "Stitch it up? Lass, I am far too old to stich properly, perhaps Miss Caelin could help you with that?" Alex snorted "Caelin hates blood. She would faint, before she could do the second stitch." She sighted nervously.
"Could you please ask Thorin to do that?" She finally asked hesitantly. Oin shot her a short glance and nodded. He stepped out of the room and returned shortly after with Thorin. When Thorin saw that she was almost wearing nothing he hissed at the healer.
"It's alright, Thorin. My wound needs stitching, could you please do the stitching?" "The lass is right, Thorin. I am too old to do the stitching properly and I am afraid that Miss Caelin is not very fond of blood." Alex nodded at Oin's words. "Fine." Thorin stepped closer, after Oin had handed him everything.
"This is going to hurt." He murmured and tried to not stare at her revealed skin. "I know that you are a culture of honor, but there wasn't another one I could ask to do that. Caelin would have fainted and I did not really felt comfortable in asking Kili or Fili." She smiled apologetically. Thorin nodded slowly, while still being focused on her wound.
"What about Gandalf?" He asked and she gaped at him "Oh…OH! You are right. Sorry." She blushed slightly and he continued to work in silence. She tried to bear with the pain as good as possible, but she could not hold in a whine now and then.
"All done." Thorin grabbed a towel and careful started to clean the wound. "Thank you for doing that!" Alex turned to smile at him fondly, which let him freeze for a moment. "You are very welcome, Alexandra." He turned around to give her space to put her tunic back on. He offered her a hand and helped her up.
It was the middle of the night, when Alex woke up by someone entering the house. She got up quickly and saw a tall man walking around the house.
"Who are you?" She whispered, trying not to wake the others "I should be the one asking questions. You are in my house after all." He said while staring at her. "Oh my. I am so sorry. My name is Alexandra and these are my friends." She pointed towards the company. "We were running from an orc pack." She explained and the man nodded, while not taking his eyes of her. "I saw them." He simply said.
"Are you the bear?" Alex asked carefully. "Indeed I am. My name is Beorn and I am a skin changer." He explained. "A what now?" He sighted "Sometimes I am a big bear and sometimes a tall man." He said and wanted to leave the house.
She followed him spontaneously. "I am sorry 'bout that light earlier. I have no idea where it came from." She apologized to his back. He turned around "Are you trying to tell me, that you, an elf, did not know what you were doing?" She shook her head.
"Not really. You know, I do not come from this world and I only know for a short while that I am part elf. So I have no idea what I am actually capable of." He stared at her "You have come from the other side? I have heard rumors, but never thought they could be true." He added. She shrugged "Well it is."
He looked over to the forest "The orc pack is still close by. I will drive them off. Stay in the house, girl." He ordered her and ran towards the forest. She did as he told her and went back inside to get some more sleep.
The next morning she was woken up by a humming next to her ears. Her eyes flung open and she saw an enormous bee flying passed her. With a small shriek she jumped up and tried to get away from the bee.
"Do no worry, Alexandra. It means no harm." Beorn had seen her reaction and looked at her reassuring. "How come you know her name?" Thorin looked at him suspiciously and Alex took a seat next to him.
"We already had a chance to talk last night." She explained while taking the cup of milk he handed her "So, you are the one they call Oakenshield." Beorn looked over to Thorin "I have heard that you must reach the mountain before Durin's Day. Your time is running out." Gandalf nooded "Yes. That is why we have to cross through Mirkwood."
"That forest is a dangerous place. Filled with dark magic and the Woodland elves are not easy dealt with." Beorn shook his head "The Woodland elves?" Alex looked up curiously. Didn't Elrond say that her pendant was filled with magic of the Woodland Realm.
Beorn just nodded. "You know. I do not like dwarves. They are selfish and do not appreciate life that is lower than themselves. But orcs I hate more. What do you need?"
"We could use some horses and some supplies." Gandalf was the one to speak. Beorn nodded "You should stay today and rest. You will need you energy to cross that forest." He just said and went outside. Dwalin also got up "Let us get some training." He told Caelin. She groaned but followed him outside.
Alex looked at Thorin but he was deep in thought, so she looked over to his nephews. "Mind training with me for a bit?" She asked the two of them "Yes, of course we will!" Kili and Fili got up and the three of them headed outside. They stayed on the open grass, while Dwalin and Caelin went deeper into the woods to train without disturbances.
It was passed midday, when Dwalin and Caelin took a break. He was amused of her constant complaining, but also he admired her stamina. They both sat on a rock by a small stream. Dwalin was glancing over to her as she suddenly looked at him.
"So Dwalin, do you have wife waiting for you in the Blue Mountains?" He was a bit taken aback by the sudden question. "Why would ye ask that?" He returned with a question "Just curious I guess. I have nobody like that waiting at home for me." She added.
He stared into the water "No, I do not have wife." He finally said. 'Why would she suddenly ask something like that? What is she getting at?'
He got up and offered her a hand "We should head back to the others." He helped her up and let go of her hand instantly to start walking away. But after a few steps she stopped him while grabbing his hand.
Caelin watched him leave and sighted internally. She had fallen hard for this dwarf and sometimes she had the feeling that it was mutual. But she knew by now that the dwarf was way too stubborn to admit anything like that.
She decided on a whim since she got sick and tired of waiting too long all the time. So she reached out to him to grab his hand. When he faced her surprised, she grabbed him by the collar, pulled him closer and kissed him.
She could feel him tense up for a second, but when she did not break the kiss, he grabbed her waist and gave in to the kiss. She could feel his lips smoothen and she smiled into the kiss. When they finally moved apart, both of them were panting.
"Why are ye…?" He started and stared at him confused "What is the meaning of this, Caelin?" He stared at her with still the taste of her lips on his. "Isn't it obvious?" She averted her gaze, suddenly embarrassed.
"I may be not an angel in my world. But I would never kiss someone like that, when I am not attracted to him." She said in a low voice. Dwalin stepped closer and lifted her chin with his fingers "And ye like me?" She blushed.
"Yes, I do." She finally said and the dwarf cupped her face and kissed her hard. His kisses were rough, but she did not mind. She had not expected anything else from him. She moaned when his tongue demanded to be let in and she enjoyed the game their tongues were playing. They would not have stopped if it weren't for a cracking of a branch.
Both of them separated in rush and looked around. Alex was standing there with her hands full of apples and grinned "Well, don't mind me. I have not seen anything and I will continue somewhere else." She winked at Caelin and turned around to leave. Caelin looked at the dwarf bashfully. "Maybe we should head back too." She offered but he just glared at her "No way…" He reached out to seal her lips with his again.
She was a bit startled at his forcefulness but she let him do as he pleased. "Dwalin, do you love me?" She suddenly asked between their kissed and he stopped to look at her "I hate to admit, but I do love ye, Caelin." He looked her right into her eyes.
"Would you have approached me, if I had not kissed you just like that, Dwalin?" He stayed silent for a while. "I do not know. I was unsure about what to do. Ye are not from this world after all and I was confused since I have never had such feelings towards a human before." He added. "Oh… I… " She sighted.
"I did not even think about that just now." She admitted "I just wanted to kiss you and nothing else mattered for me at that moment." She smiled. Then she shrugged "On the other side. I am always like that. When I wanted something I went to get it." She smirked again and he returned the smirk "I already knew that."
Alex went her way back with a twisted feeling. On one side she was more than happy for her best friend. For once she seemed truly happy. On the other side she was worried. Alex knew that Caelin tended to throw herself into relationships way too fast. And the fact that she did not come from this world made her worry too.
What would happen when the time had come for Caelin to return to her world? She stopped in her tracks and blinked. She did not even thought about returning there herself. 'Maybe temporarily to clear things up and say goodbye.' She continued walking when Thorin crossed her path "Ah, Alexandra. I was looking for Dwalin. You don't happen to have seen him?" She shook her head "No, I am sorry. I just went to grab some apples." She smiled.
"I see. Thank you anyway." When he left she noticed that he was walking right towards them. "Oh-ehm-wait, Thorin!" She rose her voice and he turned around surprised "You cannot go that way!" She tried to stop him "And why is that?".
He looked confused "Ehm… you see… that is…" She sighted "Just please don't go over there!" She begged him. He stepped closer "What are you implying, Alexandra?" "Just trust me!" She groaned and he was about to agree when the wind trailed voices their ways. "Is that Dwalin?" He faced again the other way.
"Argh… what are those two doing?" She murmured. "What did you say?" "Uhm nothing… nothing. Why don't we return to the others? I am sure that Dwalin will be back in no time!" She tried one last time to convince him and he faced her with a slightly angry impression. "Alexandra. I demand to know what you are hiding. Right now!" He stepped close to her to stare her down. "I can't tell you, Thorin!" She whispered.
She wished for Dwalin and Caelin to tell him themselves. "I was not asking! I am the leader of this company, which you are part off! It was an order!" She flinched "It is not like I wanted this! Geez, I would do everything not to be here!" She yelled.
"Do you have any idea, how it feels like to be ripped from your home and land in a place you do not know. Being told that your whole life has been lie! The feeling like you lost everything in just a blink of the eye?" She snapped. A rush of pain went over his face "I do know how it feels!" He said lowly. And she gasped.
"Oh no! I am so sorry, Thorin! I didn't mean to say that. I just…. Please forgive me! I let my emotions get the best of me!" She apologized immediately. He stared at her. Unsure about what to say. That was when he saw Dwalin and Caelin coming their way. His forehead wrinkled, something seemed different.
As they saw him, they both averted their gazes and went another way. "Are those two?" He stared at her. Was it that what she was trying to hide from him? She did not manage to look him in the eyes and finally nodded.
"I am sorry. I just did not want to blow the whistle on those too." "What?" "I didn't want to tell you about those two, since it would have been better for them to tell'em yourself."
He left out a long sigh. "I was afraid that might happen." Her eyes widened "Why 'afraid'?" He pointed to a fallen tree "Let us sit down." She followed him to the tree and sat down right beside him.
"We dwarves do not simply fall in love. It is called finding our One. And we only have one in our lifetime. Once we lose them we will never find another one. Even rejection will hurt us more than anything else. Unlike the elves we cannot die from suffering and emptiness. We will simply keep living on without a purpose." He explained to her slowly.
She stayed silent for a while. "And since Caelin is human, she will have a way shorter lifespan than a dwarf's." She figured. "What if Caelin is not Dwalin's One? What if he simply fell in love with her?" She asked carefully.
Thorin stared at her "I have never heard of something like that." He got up. "Just because it did not happen before, doesn't mean that it is not possible. Right?" Thorin turned around "I want Dwalin to be happy. Just as much as you want Caelin to be happy." He faced in the direction they left "I need to talk to him." He just said and left her by herself.