When next the Company saw their lion, for she had been the first to be flown away, it was when they turned from the sight of Erebor and saw her pacing unhappily as she sniffed the air. Bilbo rubbed a hand over her head seeing she was anxious for something, almost forgetting the woman she had been before; though Thorin hadn't, and without the need for her skill he found himself wary of her and her intention with his Company.
And so while Bilbo left as their scout, for Gandalf had bid them it was for the best Dolraw stay by their side, Thorin stood near her looking down at her firmly. If not for the fierce way in which he stared at her she would have simply turned her back on him and continued pacing, as it were she changed her skin and stood before him – watching his eyes leave her unclothed body in embarrassment.
"Was it ever your intention to tell us you were," he paused not knowing entirely what she was.
"A skin changer," she finished. "No," she admitted, drawing his eyes to her surprised by her honesty, "I intended only to see you so far as my home, as Gandalf requested."
Thorin nodded, Gandalf having already told them such when he first proposed her join them; though now, he realized why he had seen such emotion in her eyes, why he felt as though he was required to speak to her as though she might respond. And he realized she did in fact have a home to return to. "Your husband," he said, waiting until she nodded before continuing, "is he like you?"
She nearly smiled as she shook her head. "Not exactly," she answered.
He stood waiting for her say to more, to tell him what her husband was like – if he were human or a half beast as she was, or perhaps he was simply an animal. There was no way to know, not without asking her and after bearing witness to her fight he did not wish to upset her. And so he said nothing, knowing they would meet him when they came across her home – wherever it was she called home.
As though she had guessed his thoughts she turned to him, the scent of Beorn so strong on the air. "My husband," she said pausing at the word husband, for though it was the closest word to describe him, it was one she had never used before, "is not an easy man, and he has been given good reason. I am the easier one of us both, his wrath is the one you should concern yourself with."
He looked up at her dirty face, seeing behind the mane of golden hair that called to mind her lion form, he saw her kindness – the gentleness he had seen when she had licked Bilbo's face or let one of them stroke her head. "You did not run," he said. "When we had broken free of the goblin-town you stayed with us, you had known Azog was coming for me – for you."
She gave him a coy look before turning away. "I suppose my fondness for the lot of you is no secret now," she said making him smile. Both their attentions were taken away by the sound of the orcs chasing them, and all previous mirth fell at realizing they were not out of the danger yet. They turned at sound of pattering feet racing toward them, seeing Bilbo running down the pathway toward them.
"How close is the pack?" Thorin asked, not liking how loud the wargs had sounded when all else around them was silent.
"Too close," Bilbo answered, his little heart beating furiously from what he had seen. "A couple leagues, no more. But that's not the worst of it."
Dolraw, once more a lion now straining to hear the pack, discovered the sound of large feet with sharp claws scraping the stone as it quietly came closer – Beorn had caught Bilbo's scent, he would now trace it back to them. And he was already so close, she could feel him – she wanted nothing more than to run to him, to watch the surprise on his face he shifted skin and took her in his arms. Just a few more moments of the Company talking aimlessly, barely listening as Bilbo told them of the other creature; whom of course Gandalf had known of for he was the very reason the wizard had asked her to accompany them. He looked to the lion, seeing she so greatly wished to greet the bear – but they still needed her yet and she nodded displeased.
"There is a house, it's not far from here, where we may take refuge," Gandalf told the panicking dwarves, taking Dolraw's quiet permission.
"Who's house?" Thorin was quick to demand, the elven stronghold being the last place the wizard had taken them to. "Are they friend or foe?"
Gandalf looked down at the lion, seeing her eyes were searching the rocks above them hoping for a glimpse. "Neither," he answered honestly. "He will help us or he will kill us."
They were not comforting words, but they had little other choice for the two options left to them were the orcs or the giant beast; though what they did not know was that it had been Gandalf's plan all along to seek refuge in the house of Beorn using Dolraw, the ever kinder of the two, as the means of Beorn's agreement. "What choice do we have?" Thorin asked knowing there was little hope for another way.
Dolraw's eyes widened in longing at the sound of the great roar, and Gandalf placed a hand on her head forcing her to look up at him. "Please," he begged her, knowing should Beorn find her first he would not care for the rest of them – the only way they would all safely be housed out of reach of the orcs was if Dolraw was inside, forcing Beorn to stand watch, for his lion was with them.
It was a long few days, turning into weeks and the first snow fell keeping Beorn inside with a sleeping Dolraw and little else to do. And so with the blade she had taken from the camp he set to carving in the wood; on a cup, a chair after he built it, their bed. She woke from her daze several days after the first snowfall, Beorn continuing to let her sleep for it was the only time she was able to find peace; she stared at the wood above seeing the roof had been finished, and then next she searched for Beorn – the last thing she truly remembered was him leaving to find something to help her. It was a relief to see him at one of the columns he had constructed to hold the house up, a pile of wood shavings at his feet as he carved a wondrous pattern into the wood.
"It is beautiful," she said softly, swallowing thickly at her dry throat.
He turned to her surprised by her speaking, other than the animals that had taken refuge from the winter, who were mostly sleeping, it was entirely quiet. With a gentle hand he lifted her and brought a cup of water to her lips, watching as she greedily drank it before he settled her on her back once more. "How do you feel?" he asked, smoothing back her hair.
After taking a breath she answered: "I'm alright I suppose."
"It does not hurt?" he asked raising a brow, not believing her.
She smiled lightly and shook her head. "I didn't say that, but I'm alright." And she was, for though it ached and she could not breathe deeply it was a pain she could live with – a pain she could be distracted from; and day by day, week by week the dull throbbing began to fade, and the bruises on her skin turned a sickly yellow before disappearing entirely.
It was then, the first few months into winter, that they received a visitor. Dolraw sat against the wall beside Beorn, her arm in a sling fashioned from the end of the dress she had saved to wear, watching as he carved into a cup. It was a lovely little picture, a lion entwined with a bear, their heads pressed together, a pony on the side, several bees, flowers. She leaned against his shoulder warming by the fireplace he'd built from stone, when they were startled by the sound of footsteps. Beorn put down the knife and placed the cup in her hands before standing and grabbing the axe he'd crafted when they'd first been startled by the sound of animals, though it had only been four ox who had stumbled upon their home seeking shelter to which they had been granted.
Dolraw sat up straight wishing her arm was better healed for she was truly vulnerable and entirely useless should a fight be made – though Beorn lowered the axe when he opened the door to see who now stood on their front step.
"I came to see how she was," a soft voice said, one more fair than Dolraw had ever heard – a voice she had thought she'd only dreamed. But in stepped a very lovely woman, her hair as red as flame. "I was hoping to see you up," she said almost pleasantly as she knelt before the woman, seeing the picture on the cup and smiling softly. "You probably do not remember much of those first days."
"I know your voice," Dolraw said softly, watching a lovely smile curl on her beautiful face. "What is your name?"
"Tauriel," she answered, reaching for Dolraw's arm – she gently pulled the fabric away before inspecting her closely, watching her face for even the slightest tremble of pain, and refitting her sling when she was satisfied. "A week more at most and you should be able to walk on it, though I would not try to run," she told her kindly, finding she was quite glad to see the lion woman free of the pain that had so greatly plagued her. With a small nod of her head she stood and returned to the doorway. "My absence will be noticed, I only came to see she was well," she told Beorn, watching him nod reluctantly.
As unhappy as he was with her knowledge of where they lived, for she had returned many times with new leaves saving him from having to leave Dolraw defenseless, he was glad to know the she elf truly meant them no harm. And so when he heard the sound of a second set of footsteps he pushed Tauriel behind him and stood holding the axe tight in his hand, listening as the steps came round the house before charging out.
At the sound of a startled cry Tauriel ran behind him, tried to get between the enraged man and the intruder. "Legolas," she yelled, hoping to get her prince to put his bow away.
"This is where you have been coming," he said nearly spitting, knowing this man was hardly a man at all. "To see this half beast."
"Hîr nin, Legolas," she said trying to calm him, seeing the thickening of Beorn's hair and knowing he very well might kill them both for coming so close to Dolraw. "He needed help."
Legolas turned to her outraged. "If the king were to know of your dealings with this beast," he said, hearing Beorn growl deeply and he kept his notched bow in hand not waiting for the moment he became a bear as he aimed it at the man's heart. He was startled by the woman who threw herself in front of the man, as wild as he with her mess of tangled hair and her unclothed body – her arm tied around her as it continued to heal. It was then the elven prince realized the man was not only defending himself – and it was the woman's presence, a woman who could not fight for herself, that made him so fierce. It was this woman he realized Tauriel had been helping, a woman so very brave in her devotion to the bear behind her – and he realized this was the lion he and Tauriel had seen one day near their trees.
Beorn stood with a hand on her shoulder, prepared to fling her behind him should the elf make to shoot; though Legolas lowered his bow and unnotched his arrow. With the threat gone Beorn nudged her toward the door. "Get in the house," he told her giving her no choice, standing in the doorway to watch as the elves made their retreat. "Do not return to our home," he told them both, blaming the she elf for drawing the other near, "you will not be welcomed." He waited until they disappeared between the trees before closing and barring the door, turning to Dolraw to find her sitting tiredly near the fire. "What were you thinking?" he asked her as knelt beside her. "He might have killed you."
"He didn't," was her only answer. Her heart still beat furiously in her chest from close she'd come to having an arrow stuck through it, at how close she had come to death.
Beorn looked down at her soft eyes, seeing the words she did not say; she could not bear the thought of living in a world he didn't, and so it had never been a thought whether she would sacrifice herself for him. She loved him. Without a word he pulled her to his chest, holding her gently as he fought to silently tell her he loved her too. And he realized then, that he did love her so very much.
She unhappily kept pace with them as they ran over the long field toward her trees, biting at the dwarves' ankles to urge them faster – knowing Beorn might have one of them between his teeth before he saw her. As greatly as she wished to leave the dwarves and make for Beorn she knew Gandalf was right, with Azog so near Beorn would not care for the safety of anyone but her's – and so though every muscle in her body ached to turn and run for him at the sound of his furious roar at finding the Company headed for their home, she continued on through the trees, over the garden she had planted and let run wild for the bees they had gathered, and on toward their home.
Beorn roared again even angrier, and she could nearly feel his desire to tear into the dwarves – he greatly disliked them, and their stink was so strong it covered hers. And so greatly surprised was he when he burst through the line of trees to see his lion at their side that he paused and stared at her confounded. She turned to see him, her heart swelling as she stood on two legs hoping now the dwarves were already past the gate that she might be allowed to stay with him. Though Gandalf, knowing Beorn would want her inside – minus the dwarves – grabbed her arm and pulled her after him, spurring the bear after them in a terrible rage. "Open the door!" the wizard urged them panicked, holding fast the struggling woman as she tried to pull herself from his grasp. When Thorin finally lifted the latch and the dwarves tumbled inside, Gandalf ran in as quickly as he could with Dolraw resisting – and she stood staring so sad as Beorn tried to get in, tried to force his way into his home so that he may have her. Though the dwarves, thinking he meant to kill them – which in that moment he very much did mean to kill them for they were standing in the way of his lion – forced the door closed, not realizing they had separated the two once more.
I was so very hoping to get to their reunion this chapter, I had even planned where I would stop - but this chapter kind of got away from me a little bit and it turned it a lot longer than I realized it would. So I'm very sorry for making you all wait another chapter for them to finally be reunited, but I guess that means now I can do their first meeting justice, and make it as long as I want - or else they'll literally be at Beorn's for like one chapter before they leave again. So I might do more details and talking, and add in my own ideas of what I hope is in the extended edition of the movie. And just all around sweetness, because the span between the flashbacks and present hobbit time is about 10 years or so (cause she's really young in the flashbacks) and her and Beorn are very much in love during the hobbit - so I'm quite excited to show how their relationship progressed.
