The company made their way down the crag and into the valley below. Fili kept a close eye on Thorin the whole way down just in case he needed help. Once they made it to the valley floor the sun had set so they set up camp with what little they had left and all fell into an exhausted sleep. The next morning they set out a first light making their way towards the mountain. They needed to keep moving, the eagles had given them a good lead on the orc pack but they were on foot. Eventually the orc's would catch them. It wasn't long into the march when Kili and Ingrid disappeared into the woods to hunt. As they marched along Ori fell in alongside Fili.
"I can't believe we are this close to the mountain." Ori said, Fili nodded in agreement.
"It won't be too long before we are standing before the slopes of Erebor." Fili said in a reassuring voice. With every step forward towards their old home Fili's mind was awash with thoughts of his future in Erebor. He would have thought after all the near death experiences that had happened to the company so far the future would be the last thing on his mind. However his mind continued to go to it, the future was hope and hope was what he needed to keep going. Fili thought about what Erebor would look like, perfectly carved into the mountain, ancient and strong. He thought about Ingrid in a fine gown standing beside him in the throne room while Thorin was crowned King Under the Mountain. All his hopes and dreams danced in his head as they marched along. The company marched till near sundown, by then Kili and Ingrid had returned with half a dozen rabbits and quails each. As they set to work on setting up as much of a camp as they could, Fili volunteered to take the midnight watch. It was one of the worst watches to have but he hoped Ingrid would pick up on that.
That night Fili took over the midnight watch from Bombur. He sat on the edge of the camp smoking his pipe. He sat there watching the horizon looking for something listening to every movement in the darkness, though the odds of attack were low for once he didn't sway from his task. It gave Fili a chance to be a least a little bit relaxed as he sat on watch duty. Fili took a long drag from his pipe then he heard someone coming closer, it was exactly who he had hoped for, Ingrid. She sat down next to him and leaned her head against his shoulder. It felt wonderful to feel her against him. All that time in the Misty Mountains they had hardly been able to do so much as hold each other's hands.
"I figured you would like some company." She whispered, Fili gently pressed his face against her hair breathing in her sweet smell.
"It's much better now that you're here." He whispered back. Fili wrapped an arm around Ingrid's waist pulling her close. They sat there in silence for a few moments when Ingrid spoke,
"Oh, I almost forgot. I have a surprise for you." She reached into a pocket and pulled out a small bundle.
"I found these while Kili and I were hunting." She undid the cloth to review a small pile of berries. "I thought it would be nice to have a treat, seeing as what we've been through." Fili picked up one of the berries and popped it into his mouth. It had been ages since he had tasted anything sweet and the flavor danced around his mouth.
"Black berries, you remembered." He said. It had been when they were children, their first kiss. Ingrid and Fili had snuck out to a black berry thicket that grew not far from the village they had been living in, where they had eaten the sweet fruit and they shared and awkward shy kiss. Ingrid popped a berry into her mouth.
"How could I forget? You cracked your head against mine the first time you tried to kiss me." They both chuckled at the memory.
"That feels like a life time ago." Fili muttered. Ingrid snuggled closer to him pressing herself tight against him.
"It really does. And I thank Durin every day that I joined the quest, otherwise who knows if we ever would have found each other again." Fili gave her a light kiss on the top of her head.
"We would have, I have no doubt about that." She turned her face up to his and reached out a hand to caress his face. Fili welcomed her touch and let her guide him in for a kiss. He smiled as he kissed her tasting the black berries that she had eaten, making her lips sweet. They sat there talking for the rest of the night. They talked about everything from their pasts and families to their futures and dreams. Ingrid returned to her sleeping roll not too long before the watch change was meant to happen. Fili sat in silence and continued to think. What will happen when we reach the mountain? The closer they got to Erebor the more he wondered that. Getting to the mountain was one thing, facing the dragon inside would be something else entirely. He worried about Ingrid and Kili most of all, he knew that they were both skilled warriors but he couldn't help it. The people you love are always the ones you worry about most.
Ingrid woke at dawn the next morning with the rest of the company. She packed up what she had left and was ready to set out on the march again. Every second they waited the orc pack got closer, the lead they had gotten from the eagles was good but wouldn't hold out forever. The company moved out, continuing east towards the mountain. Around mid-day Bilbo fell in step alongside Ingrid, the hobbit cleared his throat to get her attention.
"Yes Master Baggins." She said politely. Bilbo seemed unsure what to say for a moment.
"I…well…I was just wondering why did you join the quest?" Ingrid smiled, she had wondered if Bilbo would ever work up the courage to ask her that.
"It's quiet simple really. I have no brothers and my father was injured in a mining accident many years ago, so I was the only one who was able to answer the call." Bilbo mulled over her answer for a moment.
"So is it common for dwarf women to go on journeys like this?"
"Not at all. Most dwarf maids my age have dwarves throwing themselves at them for their hand in marriage. But, as you probably guessed I'm not like other dwarf maids."
"And why is that?" Ingrid looked at the little hobbit. Most of the time people didn't bother to ask her this many questions, they just ignored her or treated her like any male dwarf.
"Well I only have sister, three to be exact all younger. Which is a rare thing in dwarven
families. After my mother gave birth to my second sister, Ingvildr, my father decided he would train me as he would a son. Understand most dwarf girls learn the basics of sword play to be able to defend themselves and their future children but never to the extent boys are trained. So he started training me with sword and bow. He also taught me how to work a forge."
"You're a blacksmith too." Bilbo exclaimed with wide eyes, She laughed at his little outburst.
"Yes, while other girls my age learned needle point and finer crafts I learned to forge
swords and axes."
"What about your sisters?"
"They live in the blue mountains with our parents. Durin knows what trouble they've caused since I've been gone."
"You miss them." Bilbo inferred.
"Yes Bilbo, very much." Not being with her sister was like having a part of herself missing but loyalty to the King was something her sisters had understood. She remembered how little Inga had cried when she left home making her promise she would come back. Ingrid had promised her a hundred times she would before Inga let go of her the night before she set out. She thought about the morning she had left how her father had given her the sword she carried now. It had been fresh forged then and perfect as it still was. Ingrid's heart began to ache at the thought of her family but she kept the hope alive that soon they would all be reunited in Erebor.
The weeks slipped past as they moved closer to the mountain. The company was almost three quarter of the way across the wilderlands when the orc pack finally caught up with them. Thorin sent Bilbo ahead to scout out the pack, it was all the company could do to try and hide their scent from the wargs and keep out running them. Bilbo was the least likely to be seen so he was sent out on most of the scouting missions. The wargs also were tracking the scent of dwarf not hobbit. Bilbo had been sent out again to check and see how close the pack was. Ingrid stood with the company waiting, she hated waiting, not for lack of patients but because there was nothing she could do. The company started to get fidgety then the hobbit came back over the ridge.
"How close is the pack?" Thorin asked Bilbo continued to run into the circle of dwarves.
"A couple of leagues no more. But that's not the worst of it."
"The wargs caught picked up our scent." Dwalin said, Bilbo shook his head.
"No we have another problem." Gandalf spoke up, Bilbo turned and faced him.
"Did they see you? They saw you!"
"No that's not it either." Bilbo shook his head as he caught his breathe.
"See what did I tell you, quiet as mouse," the wizard boasted proudly, "excellent burglar material." Ingrid and the other smiled and nodded at the fact.
"Will you just listen?" The hobbit almost shouted and the company quieted. "I'm trying to tell you there's something else out there." Something else was the last thing they needed. A pack of orcs hunting them was bad enough but now Bilbo seemed to be throwing another problem on the fire.
"What form did it take? Like a bear?" Gandalf inquired. Ingrid's head snapped to the wizard.
"Yes but bigger, much bigger." Bilbo said somewhat confused.
"You knew about this beast?" Bofur said "I say we double back." Doubling back would take them out of the way of the beast and right into the orc pack.
"There is a house. Not far from here where we might take refuge." Gandalf stated. Thorin looked at the wizard in an exasperated manner.
"Who's house? Are they friend or foe?"
"Neither, he will save us or he will kill us." Ingrid could hardly believe what she was hearing.
"What choice do we have?" Thorin said when a roar split the night. It was no warg howl though this was something else. Ingrid had never heard anything like it before in her life, it was similar to a bear but not at the same time.
"None." The wizard said. With the company turned and started to run. Gandalf lead the down from the foot hills with the company hot on his heels. They ran through the night and past dawn. Ingrid felt her legs starting to fatigue and she didn't know how much longer she could go. The sun was full in the sky when the broke from the woods.
"To the house, run!" Gandalf yelled as another roar cut through the air. Ingrid saw a house ahead of them in a clearing only five hundred yards away surrounded by a high wall covered in moss and ivy. Gandalf continued to yell at them to run. All Ingrid could do was keep moving, her legs screamed at her to stop but she pushed on. When she saw Bombur come blazing past her she couldn't believe her eyes, in any other situation she would have found the sight comical. They crossed through the gate and the wall and into the yard, the front door was right ahead of them. Bombur crashed into it first fallowed by Fili, Kili and Ingrid. The force from all of them slamming against the door should have opened it. Ingrid felt panic starting to take over as she slammed herself against the door again and again. Over the dwarves she heard something barreling towards them, though she dare not turn to look. Thorin rushed the door and flipped up the latch none of them had noticed. The company swarmed into the house. Ingrid helped to slam on of the doors shut when a giant black muzzle got in the way. Soon shouts of push rang out around her as she dug her heels and put all her weight and strength against the door. The beast tried to slam it open but the dwarves where stronger and pushed it out, baring the door with a beam they found nearby. Ingrid turned from the door exhausted and spoke,
"What is that?" Gandalf answered her.
"That is our host." Everyone looked up at the wizard in disbelief. "His name is Beorn, he's a skinchanger." Ingrid turned and fallowed several of the members up towards the hearth looking around the strange house. She had never heard of a skinchanger but guessed what it was. Gandalf continued to speak but she really wasn't listening. Everything in the house seemed too large and not just large for dwarves but large for men as well.
"He is not over found of dwarves." She heard Gandalf say as she leaned against one of the large beams that supported the house to catch her breath. Ingrid couldn't figure out why she seemed more winded than normal, being on the journey so far had been only making her stronger. She shrugged it off as being on the run almost constantly for the last few days.
"Now get some sleep. We'll be safe here tonight." Ingrid didn't have to be told twice. Sleep sounded like the most wonderful thing in the world to her right then. She set down her pack and pulled out her sleeping roll and fallowed the others towards the massive pile of hay at the back of the pens. Ingrid flopped down into the hay and pulled her blanket over her. The hay may not have been a feather bed but it was softer than the ground she had been sleeping on. As Ingrid hunkered down for to sleep Fili laid down next to her, though she could not touch him just having him near her made her feel more at ease. Ingrid gave into the exhaustion and fell into a deep dreamless sleep.