Hey all! We're finally at the beginning of Desolation of Smaug! Woohoo!
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FlowerChild23 - Thank you! I'm glad you think so!
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Applejax XD - I'm happy the last chapter met your expectations :D. Yes, thank Mahal they escaped! Erebor is definitely on the horizon now! Here is the next chapter for you!
Beorn
A few nights after the escape from Azog on the eagles, Bilbo peeks over some rocks on a high ledge and watches Azog and his Warg Scouts running along a ridgeline not far away, occasionally stopping to smell the air in their pursuit of the Company. Not finding anything, they continue on their way.
Suddenly, Bilbo hears a snarl from the side, and ducks behind the rocks. He peeks out and sees a large bear watching Azog from another pile of rocks, snarling softly. Bilbo sneaks away. The camera zooms in toward the bear, and the bear roars.
Bilbo makes his way down the rocks to where the dwarves and Gandalf are waiting to hear Bilbo's spy report.
Thorin sees him coming. "How close is the pack?"
"Too close. A couple of leagues, no more, but that is not the worst of it."
"Have the Wargs picked up our scent?" Dwalin asks.
"Not yet, but they will; we have another problem."
"Did they see you? They saw you!" Gandalf panics.
"No, that's not it."
Gandalf smiles and turns to the dwarves. "What did I tell you? Quiet as a mouse. Excellent burglar material."
The dwarves chuckle loudly in appreciation of Bilbo. Bilbo looks exasperated that no one is hearing him out.
"Will you listen - will you just listen? I'm trying to tell you there is something else out there."
The dwarves look worried.
"What form did it take? Like a bear?"
"Ye . ." Bilbo does a double take and looks curiously at Gandalf. "Y-yes. But bigger, much bigger."
Bofur looks to Gandalf "You knew about this beast?"
Gandalf turns and walks a few steps away.
"I say we double back."
"And be run down by a pack of Orcs." Thorin points out.
"There is a house, it's not far from here, where we might take refuge." Gandalf explains.
"Whose house? Are they friend or foe?"
"Neither. He will help us, or he will kill us."
The dwarves looks at each other in dismay.
"What choice do we have?"
A roar splits the night behind them; it is the bear.
"None."
By the time the sun rises, the company are running through plains and across streams.
"Come on!" Gandalf yells out.
As the Company run through a forest, Azog and his Orcs are racing through the same forest also, Azog urging his party on. Both groups stop suddenly when an ear-splitting roar sounds nearby.
"This way, quickly!"
As the dwarves and Bilbo panic and run, Bombur looks on in shock until he is pulled along.
"Bombur, come on!" Bofur yells out as he grabs hold of his brother shirt and pulls him along.
As they exit the forest, they spy a house surrounded by a hedge in the middle of a plain.
Gandalf turns to the others. "To the house! Run!"
The Company runs across the plain; Bombur, the fattest dwarf, outruns all the rest of them in his fear. They run through a gate in the hedge.
"Come on, get inside!" Gandalf calls out as he stands by the gate, ushering the others through.
They run to the front door of the house; it is closed. Bombur, who reaches the door first, throws himself against it but falls flat on his back when the door doesn't budge. The rest of the dwarves catch up and begin throwing themselves against the door, trying to open it. Gandalf looks back as a massive bear breaks out from the edge of the forest and runs toward them.
"Open the door!"
"Quickly!" Thorin yells out.
Thorin, pushing through the dwarves pressed against the door, manages to raise the exterior bolt, opening the doors. The entire company bolts inside the house and they try to slam the door shut, but the bear has already gotten its head in the door. As the bear roars and tries to push the door open, the dwarves yell and strain to close it. Bilbo pulls out his sword and points it unsteadily at the bear.
Gandalf looks on in apparent amusement. The dwarves yell as they press against the door.
"Come on, lads!" Dwalin exclaims.
With a final heave, the dwarves manage to close the door and drop the bolt across it. They sigh in shock, fear, and tiredness.
"What is that?" Ori asks.
"That. . .is our host." Gandalf replies.
The dwarves and Bilbo turn to Gandalf in bewilderment.
"His name is Beorn, and he is a skin-changer."
Oin checks his hearing trumpet to make sure he has heard Gandalf correctly.
"Sometimes he's a huge black bear; sometimes he's a great strong man. The bear is unpredictable, but the man can be reasoned with. However, he is not overfond of dwarves."
The dwarves look at each other in dismay. Ori peaks out a crack in the door.
"He's leaving!"
Dori rushes over and pull his youngest brother away from the door.
"Come away from there! It's not natural, none of it. It's obvious: he's under some dark spell."
"Don't be a fool; he's under no enchantment but his own. Alright now, get some sleep, all of you. You'll be safe here tonight."
The dwarves start spreading out through the house. Gandalf whispers quietly to himself.
"I hope."
After a quick look around the house, the company soon settle down to sleep.
The next morning, Bilbo wakes up and jumps when he sees giant bees hovering over his face. He gets up, stretches, then joins the dwarves who are standing near a door, a thumping sound coming from outside. They are arguing about how to get away from Beorn without being seen.
"I say we should leg it and slip out the back way!" Nori suggests.
Dori grabs him by the collar of his shirt. "I'm not running from anyone, beast or no."
Gandalf turns to them, "There is no point in arguing. We cannot pass through the wilderlands without Beorn's help. We'll be hunted down before we ever get to the forest." he then spots Bilbo. "Ah, Bilbo. There you are. This will require some delicate handling; we must tread very carefully. The last person to have startled him was torn to shreds."
The dwarves instantly look to Gandalf in shock. Thorin and Kili glancing at each other. "I will go first, ah, Bilbo, you will come with me."
The Hobbit to see him hesitates for a few moments, but with a nod of Thorin's head, he walks over to the Wizard.
"I-Is this a good idea?" he asks nervously.
"Yes. Now, the rest of you, you just wait here and don't come out, until I give the signal."
"Right, wait for the signal." Bofur confirms as he's stood by the window.
"And no sudden moves or loud noises and don't over crowd him. Only come out in pairs." he turns to leave but then turns back, "No, actually, Bombur, you count as two so you should come out alone."
Bombur gives a noise of agreement and nods.
"Remember, wait for the signal." he turns and leaves with Bilbo.
"What signal would that be?" Bofur asks, but Gandalf is gone.
Gandalf and Bilbo leave the house, pausing for a few moments. Gandalf swallows nervously as they walk on, watching the huge man as he chops wood.
Beorn is tall, extremely tall, greyish brown hair which is like a mane flowing down his back. Hair covering the side of his face, forked beard which reveals his chin. Piercing brown eyes. Muscular chest which is bare and wearing brown pants.
"You're nervous." Bilbo points out, as he watches Gandalf.
Gandalf looks to Bilbo before turning back to Beorn at the thump of his axe chopping wood. "Nervous? What nonsense. Good morning."
Beorn doesn't seem to hear as he continues his task, wizard and hobbit stepping back to avoid the swing of his axe.
"Good morning!"
Beorn stops as he stands straight, looking behind his shoulder at Gandalf. "Who are you?"
"I'm Gandalf. Gandalf the Grey." Gandalf replies as he bows his head.
Beorn turns around, holding the handle of his axe with both hands.
"Never heard of him."
"I'm a wizard! Perhaps you've heard of my colleague, Radagast the Brown. He resides in the southern borders of Mirkwood."
"What do you want?"
"Well, simply to thank you for your hospitality. You may have noticed that we took refuge in your lodgins last night."
Bilbo, who has been hiding behind Gandalf, pokes his head around for a better look. Beorn spots him and frowns.
"Who is this little fellow?"
"Well, this would be Mr. Baggins, of the Shire."
Beorn picks up his axe slightly. "He's not a dwarf, is he?"
"Why, no. No, he's a Hobbit. A good family, an unimpeachable reputation."
"A halfling. And a wizard. How come you here?"
"Oh well, the fact is that we've had a bad time of it. From Goblins in the mountains."
"What did you go near Goblins for? Stupid thing to do!"
"You are absolutely rig-"
From inside the house, Bofur informs the others of the signal.
Gandalf freezes as he hears footsteps and turns around to see Balin and Dwalin walking out. Beorn also sees them as raises his axe, growling.
"Dwalin and Balin." Dwalin introduces himself and his older brother.
"I-I must confess, uh, several of our group, are infact. . .dwarves." Gandalf replies, feeling more nervous then when he left the house. He had yet to give the signal.
"Do you call two, "several"?" Beorn is getting extremely nervous and agitated.
Gandalf pauses. "Well, uh now that you put it that way. . ." he stutters. "Yes, there could be more than two. . ."
After a moment of Gandalf babbling, Bofur sends out two more, Oin and Gloin.
"Ah, and here are some more of our happy troupe!"
"And do you call six, a troupe? What are you? A travelling circus?"
Bofur again sends out two more, Beorn growls again.
"Dori and Ori, at your service." Dori introduces.
"I don't want your service!"
"Absolutely understandable!" Gandalf tries to calm things down.
Fili and Kili walk out.
"Oh! Fili and Kili, I'd quite forgotten."
Then, stupidly, Nori runs out, followed by Bofur, Bifur and Bombur.
"Is that it? Are there anymore?" Beorn asks.
Thorin is the last to come out, who Beorn appears to recognise.
Everyone is soon back inside, the dwarves and Gandalf sat around the table eating as Beorn, who is now wearing a woollen tunic, is pouring out milk for everyone as they all tell him about their journey through the mountain, including the fall of Faron.
"So you are the one they call Oakenshield." Beorn says once the story is over. "Tell me, why is Azog the Defiler hunting you?"
"You know of Azog? How?" Thorin asks.
"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."
Bilbo sees the remnants of manacles on Beorn's wrist.
"Not for work, you understand, but for sport. Caging skin-changers and torturing them seemed to amuse him."
"There are others like you?"
Beorn pauses for a moment. "Once, there were many."
"And now?"
"Now, there is only one."
The dwarves, Bilbo, and Gandalf look on in silence.
"You need to reach the mountain before the last days of autumn?" Beorn asks as he sits in his large chair.
"Before Durin's Day falls, yes." Gandalf answers.
"You are running out of time."
"Which is why we must go through Mirkwood."
"A darkness lies upon that forest. Fell things creep beneath those trees. There is an alliance between the Orcs of Moria and the Necromancer in Dol Guldur. I would not venture there except in great need."
"We will take the Elven Road. That path is still safe."
"Safe? The Wood-Elves of Mirkwood are not like their kin. They're less wise and more dangerous. But it matters not."
Thorin looks to the skin-changer. "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."
Thorin looks shocked. Beorn stands up from the table and faces Thorin.
"I don't like dwarves. They're greedy and blind, blind to the lives of those they deem lesser than their own."
Beorn picks up a mouse that had been scampering on the table and holds it, all the while approaching Thorin. who is standing with his arms crossed.
"But Orcs I hate more. What do you need?"
Woohoo! We have met Beorn! Please R&R! I love hearing your comments!