~~ Elena ~~

Elena felt like a child again, her feet swinging freely back and forth as she sat on the bench around Beorn's table. Having been crafted for the skin-changer's height, there was probably a good foot between her own two feet, and the bare floor beneath. It had been a bit of a struggle to get up to the bench, but almost everyone was seated around the table now, and at least pretending to enjoy the food that was purely vegetarian - although they seemed much happier about the mere presence of food alone, than they had been in Rivendell. Although, now that she thought about it, that had probably been more due to the presence of elves, than anything else.

Still, she hadn't been able to eat for a while - it had probably been early yesterday morning when they had last actually eaten a meal. Anything else had been snatched in hasty bites while they took a quick reprieve from the running, and they hadn't even really had the chance to eat supper last night or breakfast this morning. So she dug into the bread, cheese, and vegetables with gusto, enjoying the fresh food and break from the running.

"I'm pretty sure that the food never tasted this good back home," her sister mumbled from beside her, buttering another slice of bread.

"That's probably because you've never had to wait this long between meals," Elena reminded her, rolling her eyes. "I've always heard that hunger is the best seasoning."

Celia shrugged. "Maybe. But as amazing as this is, I'd still give just about anything to have a pizza again."

Her twin groaned. "Don't remind me. It's been so long. Add that to the things I miss most about home. Mom, air conditioning, hot water, and pizza."

"And chocolate," her sister reminded her unhelpfully.

"I said don't remind me," Elena whined, making her sister break down in a fit of giggles.

"What's pizza?" Fíli asked, breaking into their conversation from his spot on the other side of Elena, holding his own slice of bread. He'd already gone through at least four, and probably wasn't going to be stopping any time soon. Elena and Celia both stared at him in open mouthed shock. "What?" he said uncomfortably, when he noticed their stares. "Did I say something wrong?"

"He doesn't know what pizza is," Celia whispered to her sister.

"That poor boy," Elena agreed in the same tone of voice, neither of them taking their eyes off of Fíli. "He doesn't even know what he's missing. Never realized what he's been deprived of his whole life."

Fíli rolled his eyes. "Alright, very funny. You've made your point. Again, what is this pizza that I've been deprived of?"

"And what's chocolate?" Kíli added, his head appearing around his brother's. "Is it food?"

Elena glanced over at her sister, before they both started snickering. "Yes, Kíli. For once, your stomach has led you the right way. Pizza and chocolate are both food."

"Amazing food," Celia broke in. "Delicious, tasty, somewhat bad for you food that everyone eats anyways because it's so good."

"Anyways, chocolate is this sugary treat that's derived from milk," Elena explained. "And pizza is cheese and this tomato sauce with herbs and seasonings that's baked onto a bread dough rolled flat. And it's really good." She sighed, her eyes glazed over with memories. "Remember when Mom tried to bake us a pizza, and somehow managed to burn the crust while leaving the center completely raw? But the cheese was melted to perfection." She shook her head with a smile. "I never did understand how she was simultaneously a talented chef and a disaster in the kitchen at the same time."

Celia chuckled. "She always blamed it on the dough. Said it was prepared differently than from when she learned how to make it." She snorted. "As if that explains everything. She could make a meal that you would find at a fancy restaurant, but at the same time, burn the water that she was using to boil the potatoes."

Kíli blinked. "She sounds... talented. If that's the right word."

Elena smiled sadly. "She was very talented. I think she'd love to meet you guys, sometime. She loved to meet new people."

"Was your mother left in your other world, that you speak of her so?" Beorn's deep voice cut in as he reached in to pour milk from an oversized pitcher into Fíli's cup. "I have heard Gandalf's tale, but not yet your own tale, for surely the Valar would not call randir to visit their kin, as your friends are doing." His tone was even, but they all got the feeling that Beorn knew that that was not their real intention. To travel with a wizard - and two randir- was definitely out of the ordinary.

"Yes, she was left behind when we came here," Celia explained, smiling gratefully up at the man when he refilled her milk as well. "And thank you, Master Beorn. You didn't have to do all this for us."

"I did what any would do, were they to be on the side of what is right and good. You were sent by the Valar for a reason, and I will not bring their wrath upon my head by turning you away," he answered dismissively. "But I would not be opposed to hearing your tale, as well as how several of your party came to be injured." He gestured towards Elena's head, and Fíli's arm, which was still wrapped up in a sling. "And I know your leader, and the hobbit, are injured as well. I can smell it on them." He tilted his head to the side, watching them with interest. "So tell me. How did this happen? Was it from the orcs who hunted you?"

Celia and Elena glanced at each other, before shrugging. They knew Beorn was trustworthy, and rarely spoke to others, so they could probably tell him at least a little bit.

"Bilbo, Fíli and I got injured while we were in the Misty Mountains," Elena explained. "Thorin was attacked by a warg. We're all mostly mended, but I need to keep my head wound clean, and Fíli's not supposed to use his arm too much. That's why it's still in the sling. As for how we got to this world to start with, well... that's a longer story."

"Your kin are still eating," Beorn pointed out, gesturing with the milk pitcher to where the rest of their friends were still taking advantage of the abundant food. "And the orcs that were hunting you will not dare step onto my lands. You have time enough to tell your tale, and I am a ready listener. For all that I prefer the company of my animals to free folk, I am not against hearing new tales."

So, since Elena had finished first - although Fíli and Kíli didn't look like they would be stopping any time soon - she took a deep breath and launched into their tale - how they had been humans back home, had wound up here as dwarves and ended up living with Bilbo until the rest of the dwarves had stopped by, and then they had all discovered who they really were. Beorn listened to the whole tale without interruptions, then nodded once when she had finished.

"Your tale has the ring of truth to it," he said at last. "I do not know why you were sent through the way you were, but the Valar do not always work in ways that are clear to see. Do you know why you were chosen?"

Elena glanced at Celia awkwardly. "I guess?" she said uncertainly. "But it's not exactly something that we can really say in the open. At least for right now. It's kind of... big."

Beorn raised a hairy eyebrow and nodded in amused agreement. "I understand. I do not believe the Valar would have chosen two randir, who have lived lives in both worlds, were it not something very important." He rested the milk pitcher on the table. "It was an interesting tale, and I am pleased to have been one of the few to hear it. But now, I believe we must move on to more pressing matters." Never one for courtly manners, he tilted his head slightly in a gesture of farewell and strode off to another room.

Once he was gone, Celia leaned in towards Elena and lowered her voice, whispering softly. "Okay, so I know that we can't tell people everything. But we need to start coming up with something better than that. We all know Beorn doesn't believe that we're just visiting some friends, or whatever. Particularly not with Thorin, Gandalf, and two randir from another world here. And what about the Company? They all know something of why we're really here. When are we going to tell them we know what's going to happen?"

Elena shushed her hastily, then glanced around her, trying to make sure that no one had overheard. But it seemed as though no one had been paying attention, all too focused on finishing up their food.

"We can't talk about this here. But you're right," she admitted, her own voice hushed. "We do need to talk about it, particularly before we enter Mirkwood, in case we end up having to deal with Thranduil. And we won't have the chance to talk about it once we're in the woods, either. Let's try and figure it out after lunch, all right? We should have a bit of free time while they figure out the logistics then." Celia nodded, biting her own lip before trying to cover it up as she finished off her milk.

Beorn came back then, a frown on his face as he stood before Thorin, who didn't look at all intimidated as he stared up at the larger man.

"Tell me, Thorin Oakenshield. Why is Azog the Defiler hunting you?"

Thorin drew back. "You know of Azog? How?"

Beorn's face was heavy as he looked away. "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." He looked down at the broken manacles still hanging from his wrists, the Company looking on in understanding. "Not for work, you understand, but for sport. Caging skin-changers and torturing them seemed to amuse him."

"There were others like you?" Bilbo asked uncertainly.

"Once, there were many," Beorn answered softly.

"And now?" the hobbit continued, looking like he already knew the answer.

Beorn sighed heavily. "Now, there is only one." He straightened slightly, seeming to dispel the heavy atmosphere that had fallen over the room as he turned back to Thorin. "You need to reach the mountain before the last days of autumn?" Thorin scowled and looked at him suspiciously, but Gandalf answered before he could say anything that might offend the skin-changer.

"Before Durin's Day falls, yes."

Beorn hummed noncommittally. "You are running out of time."

Gandalf nodded seriously. "Which is why we must go through Mirkwood."

Beorn looked at him with a frown. "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," Gandalf tried to assure him. "That route is still safe." Still sitting at the table off to the side, Elena met her sister's eyes and shook her head, rolling her eyes slightly. That route was most definitely not very safe, but it was probably the only route actually available. She missed Fíli's curious glance in her direction, still focused on the current conversation in front of them.

"Safe?" Beorn scoffed. "The Wood-Elves of Mirkwood are not like their kin. They're less wise and more dangerous. But it matters not."

"What do you mean?" Thorin asked suspiciously.

"These lands are crawling with orcs. Their numbers are growing, and you are on foot. You will never reach the forest alive," Beorn stated with certainty. Elena jumped and let out a small squeak when a small, white mouse ran on the table in front of her.

"I'd forgotten that was going to happen," she murmured, tilting her head to the side to watch the small creature that sat in front of her. "You're actually kind of cute," she giggled, taking a leftover crumb of bread and pushing it towards the mouse gently. It seemed to hold no fear of her, and took the crumb, sniffing it curiously before starting to nibble on it. Beside her, Celia hid a small smiled of her own, and nudged her own bit of cheese towards the mouse.

"I don't like most dwarves," Beorn said, his deep voice startling Elena. "They're greedy and blind, blind to the lives of those they deem lesser than their own." His giant hand appeared in front of Elena, reaching down and scooping up the mouse protectively, though he glanced down at the sisters with a smile when they peeked up at him. He turned back to Thorin, who had been waiting expectantly with his arms crossed. "But not all dwarves are alike, and I hate orcs far more. What do you need?"

Elena broke out in a relieved grin as Thorin and Gandalf moved forward to discuss supplies and such with the giant man. She slid down from the bench carefully, landing with a grunt on her feet, not noticing the thoughtful look on Fíli's face.

"Come on, Celia. Let's go look at some of the plants outside. I wanna see if I can use some of them for sketching purposes. Is that all right, Master Beorn? If we go look around a bit outside?" She added awkwardly, remembering that they were still technically guests on his lands. He looked around in surprise, before looking down, as if remembering that she were there.

"Of course, Lady Elena. Just remember to stay on my lands. The orcs will not cross my borders, but they will doubtless be waiting beyond them."

"Great!" she grinned. "Thanks!" Making sure her sketchbook was in her bag, she grabbed her sister's hand and darted outside, heading over to the large garden. For something run by a man who could turn into a bear, and lived far from any signs of civilization, the garden was well organized, and tall flowers grew in abundance, brightening the landscape with their bright appearance.

"Ah. That makes sense," Celia said. When Elena looked at her curiously, she nodded her head towards a giant bee hovering around one particularly large sunflower. "I suppose he keeps the flowers to help feed the bees. I was kind of wondering about that, to be honest. He didn't exactly seem like the type of guy to stop and smell the roses."

"Ah. Yes." Elena scrunched up her nose in thought. "Do you think it's safe to go near them? I don't think either of us are allergic to bee stings, but I'd hate to know what it felt like to get stung by one that size. It's practically the size of my face."

"Maybe?" Celia shrugged her shoulders uncertainly. "Beorn probably would have told us if they were a real danger. Maybe just try not to get too close? Your vision is still halfway decent, after all, even though you're so much older than me."

"Oh, ha, ha," her twin retorted dryly. "You know, that joke stopped being funny a long time ago. As in, the Dark Ages. Neither of us remember it, but considering you're the medical expert in the family, tell me. How likely is it that I really was born so much longer before you? Is it even possible for me to be born at a very great length from you, considering we're twins?"

"Well, someone's cranky," Celia observed with her eyebrows raised, holding up her hands in surrender. When Elena only raised her own eyebrow at her, she gave in. "Okay, okay, fine. Yes, I probably deserved that for dumping the water on your head this morning. In my defense, I did keep it away from your bandages, and I was doing what Thorin had told me to do, so... you're welcome. And anyways," she continued hastily, seeing Elena scowl at her, "There can't be too great of a distance between births in a multiple- birth situation. Typically it's a matter of hours at the longest, sometimes only minutes."

"Thank you," Elena said dryly. After a minute of silence, where she pulled out her sketchbook and a pencil and began to sketch, she gave in. "I wasn't really that mad about this morning. It could have been a lot worse than it did, and I'm completely dry now. And I have to admit, I probably would have done the same thing in your place. I guess I'm just a little tense this morning. Not quite sure why. Anyways, we need to decide what we can tell people when they find out that we're randir. Like, what about when we end up with Thranduil? Because, book or movie version, we're going to get captured by the elves."

Celia hummed thoughtfully, her eyes staring off in the distance. "I guess the real question is whether or not we're going to be affected by the magic of Mirkwood. I mean, everyone else was, even Bilbo. But... what about the fact that we're from, you know, our world. Will that make us immune? More susceptible? And should we try to stay on the path if we're not, or try and stay with the group?"

"And who's to say that even if we aren't affected when they are, that we won't be later on?" Elena pointed out. "I mean, what if we stayed on the path, and wandered off at a later point in time? That could affect things, too. Like, what if we never get found by the elves, and instead just get captured by -" she couldn't repress a shudder, "the spiders."

"Ugh," Celia grimaced. "Don't remind me." She sat up straight all of a sudden. "Hey!"

"Hey, what?"

"That giant spider I saw as a kid, that I swore wanted to eat me, and that you always said was just a figment of my imagination, or that I was exaggerating!"

"And?"

"And?" Celia repeated indignantly. "And how about the fact that there are giant, hideous, killer spiders in Mirkwood, exactly like the one I saw when I was younger!"

Elena looked up from her rough sketch of a large carnation to eye her sister both patiently and skeptically. "Okay, but how likely was it that our parents, along with an entire dwarven caravan, chose to travel through Mirkwood, and were around said forest when they were attacked? And that the elves never came out to help? I mean, they might be reclusive, but they guard their lands." For a moment, Elena thought she had convinced her sister, then she straightened.

"Yeah, but remember what Thranduil said?" Celia wrinkled her nose. "Will say? Said from our point of view, but not yet from his perspective. He said that they will leave other lands to themselves. Or something like that. And he's not exactly fond of dwarves. If something happened outside his lands, he probably wouldn't do anything unless it would directly affect him or his people. And Shelob was never near Mirkwood. She was by," she lowered her voice. "the dark lands. Who's to say that more of her spawn didn't crawl elsewhere?"

"You make it sound like the Voldemort," Elena said in amusement. "The land we do not name," she whispered, her voice wavering and drawn out for added spooky effect. "Hey," she shrugged when she saw her sister's raised eyebrow. "Just because we never read the books doesn't mean that I don't know one of the more famous references from that show."

"Anyways," Celia said, rolling her eyes. "To get back to our original topic, I think we should try and stick with the Company either way. We know they'll get rescued, and that way we won't have to worry about anything changing too much. And if we get exposed to Thranduil, which we probably will, maybe we can try and play it off to get him to let us go earlier? Claim we need the dwarves to fulfill our purpose, or something - which we kind of do, come to think of it."

Elena nodded thoughtfully. "That could work. Let him now that there's more at stake here than just his precious kingdom, and that if the dwarves fail, then, well... to quote a prophecy that I'm sure he's more than familiar with... 'Then all will fail with sadness, and the lake will shine and burn.' Or, you know, something like that, considering I'm pretty sure the original prophecy in the book had a happier ending."

"Along with, you know, the rest of Middle Earth," Celia pointed out. "He's not actually a bad person, just a persnickety person who's overprotective of what he cares about, and everything else can go suck it."

"Basically," Elena snickered. "Though I doubt he'd agree with your wording. It'd probably be something more along the lines of something like this." She cleared her throat and straightened her back, before doing her best Thranduil impression. While a bit rough, as it had been a while since she'd heard the voice back in the other world, it was still fairly decent. "Our people come first, Legolas. We must place the safety of our kingdom over the needs of the outside world, that cared not for us in our time of need. Let them tend to them, and we will tend to our own."

"Wow." Celia raised her eyes in mock astonishment. "When you put it like that, it almost makes Thranduil sound noble."

"Shh! Don't let Thorin hear you say that," Elena hushed her, a grin appearing on her face. "And now that we've decided to basically keep doing what we've been doing, and winging it, can I focus on my drawing now?"

"The drawing that you've been working on? The drawing that's nearly complete?" Celia asked, eyebrows raised. "And we still haven't decided whether or not we can tell anyone in the Company that we know what's going to happen."

"Oh. That." Elena scowled and pressed her pencil a little deeper into the paper with her next stroke, then huffed in frustration when it threw off the look she had been going for, and did her best to blend it in. "I don't think we can tell everyone. At least, not right now. It's too soon. We can't exactly warn them about Smaug attacking. I mean, things could very easily go much worse if anything changes when he attacks them inside the mountain."

"Well, obviously I don't think we can tell everyone," Celia retorted. "I mean, how do you think they're gonna take the news that several people that we all care about a lot are going to die essentially pointless deaths if we aren't able to stop it? What's to keep them from blaming us? I don't want our best friends to hate us for something we could've stopped!"

"Who's going to die a pointless death?" The question made the blood leave their cheeks as they froze in wide-eyed terror. Because the speaker of said question, was one of the people who was supposed to die said pointless death. Namely, a dark-haired prince, standing next to his fair-haired brother, both of them looking down at the girls with questions on their faces, although Fíli had something warring with the curiosity in his eyes - knowledge? It looked a bit more pained than that, though.

"Um... I don't... uh..." Celia stammered, glancing at her sister for help. Unfortunately for her, Elena was just as lost for words as the two princes looked to them for answers.

"Is that what your purpose is? Someone's going to die, and your job is to stop it?" Fíli guessed. "Or, several people? But, how could you know that, let alone how to stop it, unless..." he stopped, his eyes going wide as he essentially saw the confirmation on their faces. "Unless you know what's going to happen."

"Uh... DENTIST APPOINTMENT, HAVE TO GO, SORRY, BYE, GUYS," Elena blurted out at top speed all of a sudden, scrambling to her feet and yanking her stunned sister up with her. "TALK TO YOU LATER, BYE." Not giving them any time to respond and ignoring the protests she heard, she tightened her grip on her sister's hand and took off, pulling her around to a small barn behind the house that she had noticed earlier, and darting inside. Spotting a small stack of clean hay in one corner, she headed towards it and sunk down into the soft hay with an unhappy moan, laying down flat and burying her head in the hay next to her sister's lap.

There was silence for a few, blessed moments, before her sister hesitantly spoke up.

"So... dentist appointment? Really?"

Elena huffed, crossing her arms out in front of her and laying her head on them moodily, staring at the back of the wall.

"So, I might have panicked a little."

"A little?"

"... A lot. But it's not like you were any help," she protested, rolling over to glare at her sister. "They were figuring things out, and you didn't say anything! What was I supposed to say? We'd literally just finished discussing how we couldn't tell anyone anything!"

"Well, sorry if I was panicking too! But you know that screaming out an unintelligible - and extremely unbelievable at that - excuse and running away just makes us look more suspect, right?" When Elena only groaned again and buried her head back in her arms, Celia poked her shoulder tentatively. "Elena? You know we're going to have to deal with this at some point, right? And probably before we leave Beorn's. They're not going to just leave it at that."

"I know, I know," Elena muttered into her arms. "Just let me have a few moments to panic quietly in my head before we start trying to figure out damage control."

Her sister stiffened beside her, her hand moving to the back of Elena's shoulder. "Well, you better figure it out, quick. Damages 1 and 2 just entered the building."

Elena tensed, and turned her head slightly, lifting up her arm just enough to peer through the hay obscuring her vision to make out Fíli and Kíli making their way towards them, worried expressions visible on both of their faces. Celia began to rub her hands slowly over Elena's back as the two brothers took a seat at the edge of the pile of hay, although they were considerate enough to leave plenty of space for an emergency exit should either of the girls decide to make a break for it again. Neither of the brothers said anything as they sat down, and only watched as Celia continued her soothing circuit on Elena's back, not looking either of them in the eye as she fiddled with a piece of hay with her free hand.

At last, Fíli broke the silence. "So... does either one of you want to explain what just happened?" There was no trace of humor in his voice. "Because two of our closest friends decided to just take off as soon as they saw us, looking extremely upset and worried about something, and not bothering to tell us anything, only making us more worried. Because right now, neither of us are quite sure what's going on, and we're both very worried about you."

Elena shifted slightly, turning her head to rest on its side so she could see them more clearly, narrowing her eyes at them in suspicion. "So, you just want to know if you're all right? No questions about the previous subject matter?"

Kíli shrugged, shifting so he was slightly more comfortable. "Of course we'd be interested in finding out what was really going on, especially since it seemed to upset you both so much. But you're our friends, first and foremost, so our main concern is how you're really doing right now. Anything else can wait."

"Okay, now that's not fair," Celia protested childishly, pouting at the prince, who blinked in confusion. "You can't be so nice to us like that! Now how am I supposed to feel justified in refusing to tell you anything? Now I feel like I should tell you, just to make it up to you."

Kíli smirked, although it didn't quite reach his eyes. "Maybe that was the point." When Celia continued to avoid his eyes, he sighed and dropped the act. "All right. So, you don't want to tell us what upset you. Can you at least tell us why you don't want to tell us?" Celia frowned, looking down at her sister, who buried her head back in her hands. Seeing no help from that quarter, she gave up and mumbled something. "Sorry, I couldn't hear that," Kíli told her, his voice telling her he expected at least some sort of explanation. Celia sighed and repeated herself in a slightly louder tone of voice.

"We didn't want you to hate us."

There was an uncomfortable silence that lasted far too long for either of the sisters to feel good about. Celia kept her eyes focused on her hands, fiddling nervously with a piece of hay. Then, one of the princes drew breath to speak.

"What makes you think we could ever hate you?" Elena sat up in shock, dispelling some of the hay as she stared at Fíli. He met her surprised gaze evenly. "Is it because you know what's going to happen? That someone's supposed to die? Because we already know you know that. And neither of us hate you."

"But, but, how did you find out?" Elena sputtered, her mind still scrambling to think straight.

"It was actually pretty clear, to be honest, once we got on the right track," Fíli admitted. "I heard you say something at the table, about how you had forgotten that something was going to happen. Then there was all that secrecy at Rivendell, the way that Uncle and Gandalf both trusted you so quickly, the way that Uncle would speak to you privately, usually right before something big would happen, like the trolls, or the warg attacking shortly after that. Little things like that. And then there was the conversation outside, where you both had that whole bit where you were trying to decide what to do. That was what kind of clinched it, to be honest. And it made even more sense when I remembered that randir in the past have known what was going to happen, particularly during the last siege against the dark lord."

Elena swallowed hard and looked over at her sister. Fíli and Kíli had figured it out all on their own. What were they supposed to do with this? Where were they supposed to go from here? Celia shrugged helplessly, then nudged her sister, the message clear: might as well be honest.

Elena sat up a little straighter, then cleared her throat.

"All right. Might as well be honest with you. We can't tell you everything, though," she warned them. Both brothers nodded seriously, an expression that had become far too familiar of late, a strange sight compared to the typical jocular expressions they had both sported earlier on in the quest.

"But I guess it starts a long time ago, back in our world. We were both pretty young, then, and had only been adopted for a short time. But we had just visited a book store, when we found this short little book tucked away in the back. It didn't seem like much at the time. Just an ordinary book, written by a man, with the title of some fairy-tale creature. It was called, The Hobbit..."

xXx

When her story had finished - although she left out the biggest bits, such as who was supposed to die, and the battle at the end, and all that, both brothers regarded the sisters with calm, serious expressions as they waited with pounding hearts for the response.

"That explains a lot, actually," Kíli said thoughtfully at last. "And I can understand why you were afraid we might hate you, particularly if you were to fail in your self-set mission." His eyes met the ground as he spoke slowly. "To be completely honest, it actually makes a lot of sense to be mad at you right now for hiding this, to hate you for the things we've gone through, the things we could still go through."

Elena nodded shamefully, wrapping a hand around her other arm for comfort as she avoided looking at either of the brothers. It was what she had expected. She cringed as Fíli spoke the next sentence, feeling her heart shatter as the prince spoke the condemning words.

"You know things won't be the same after this. This definitely changes the way I see you. There's no going back from this."

A/N: I'm not going to say much this time, so that you guys can properly simmer in that lovely ending right there. Next update should come Tuesday evening. (Although there are a few hints scattered here and there throughout the chapter... let's see if anyone can find them...)
Also, I will be going through and releasing edited versions of the earlier chapters tomorrow, so don't be surprised if you see that, I'm just correcting some errors that badly needed to be fixed.

Special thanks to everyone who's favorited and followed, and shout-out to Outofthisworldgal, PugLife4Ever, and E for reviewing!

Outofthisworldgal: Lol, yeah. I had to look it up too, a fact I'm a little embarrassed about. Especially considering I knew what Mithrandir meant, but I still didn't connect the two words for a disgracefully long time. ;) Thanks for reviewing! Hope you like this chapter... ;)

PugLife4Ever: Lol, no worries. And thanks! And the only reason I would be hesitant about going to Beorn's house is that I have a boatload of allergies, so I would probably be pretty uncomfortable in the natural world, lol. And fluff... uh... *checks ending awkwardly* Um... hehe, maybe next chapter? There's either going to be angst, and lots of it, or boatloads of fluff. And I already have it all planned out... mwahaha. Thanks for reviewing! :) Hope you liked it! :)

E: I'm glad you did - I'm pretty sure Fíli, Kíli, and Elena didn't appreciate the wake-up call very much. And you almost read my mind. I was kind of surprised when I saw your review, considering how similar it was to what I had planned - and this isn't the first time this has happened either. Great minds think alike, perhaps? lol. Wonder what you think of the ending... ;) Conclusion to this particular arc will be next chapter. Thanks for reviewing... I'm kind of interested to see people's response. :D

Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed! :)

General Disclaimer: I don't own the Hobbit or LOTR, they belong to the JRR Tolkien estate.