DISCLAIMER: I do not own the characters or happenings of middle earth. They belong to J. R. R. Tolkien and sometimes Peter Jackson's stuff might fall in too. I only own my OC. Please, feel free to leave any comments and questions. Follow the story in which ever way you would like, but make your thoughts known. Thank you!

~~~~~~~~~~Shishi~~~~~~~~~~

CHAPTER 34

"Oh my gosh, Bilbo!" I jump up and down like a toddler on Christmas "My ring! You found it!"

"I did?"

"Yes, yes. Oh goodness gracious, yes!" I drag him into a quick hug before bouncing again "I'm so happy. I can't wait to show Beorn. Oh, and Thori-"

"No! You can't!" his sudden outburst stuns me into surprised silence. Watching him silently causes the hobbit to fidget at the attention "I... I mean, you said you forgave him. You should not bring this up now. I-it would not be polite."

"Oh." I calm myself, allowing reason to seep into my excitement. Bringing this up to Thorin would surely open up a can of worms... or whoopass "You're right, it'd be rubbing it in his face. That would be terribly rude of me."

"Yes. Rude." he vigorously nods in agreement, causing his light hair to fly every which way "You two just made up. It would be better if I... held on to it... Just for a little while. U-Until the adventure is over."

"You want to keep my ring?"

"Just until we reach the mountain, you see." he closes his hand around the band protectively as if he were afraid it might shatter if the world saw it "We wouldn't want you to lose it again, hm?"

I frown deeply at the situation at hand before stepping away and studying the hobbit seriously. He shifts under my gaze and I suddenly remember what he actually found under goblin town. 'One ring to rule them all. The one ring... is mine? Cool!' I know I should be worried about the fact that I have been carrying the embodiment of evil for the past ten years, not to mention how I got it in the first place, but I'm too astounded to care. I have actually become a factual part of the story! Bilbo shifts again and I'm brought back to the issue at hand; Mister hobbit has my ring.

"Bilbo... I consider you a very good friend friend of mine."

"...Th-Thank you." he stammers in confusion, unsure of what is happening "But what-"

"I just want you to know that no matter what happens next" I pause for emphasis, pressing my lips in a firm line and raising my eye brows "I am only doing what is best for everyone."

"Thia, what are-"

"I'm going to need you to hand over my ring."

His face freezes in confusion before it quickly melts into something much much scarier. He hunches over in an attempt to use his entire body to cover my ring as his mouth opens and he bares his teeth at me with a feral hiss.

"You can't have it." he snarls; words dripping with malice and scorn "It's mine!"

"I thought you might say that." I sigh before crouching into a stance of my own "However that ring is mine and there is no way I'm letting it corrupt you."

That is all the warning I give him before I tackle the small hobbit with all I'm worth. We fall onto the bed and he tries to crawl away but I grab his hairy foot and yank him back to me. Not at all pleased, the hobbit shrieks at me in wordless anger. Flipping him onto his back, Bilbo takes one of his large feet a kicks me in the stomach making me wince. The air whooshs out of my lungs but I dodge the second blow, not wishing to take another gut shot.

"Mine, mine. It's mine!" He cries out, attempting to scoot away from me "I won't let you have it. It's mine!"

Scrabbling up his body, I quickly pin the smaller creature beneath me. Straddling his waist, I make quick work of prying open his tiny fist, ignoring the bite of his nails. He buckles and growls beneath me before the ring finally falls from his hand. It bounces off the bed and I dive after it only for my head to be snapped back painfully. With my neck bend at an awkward angle, I can see that Bilbo has a fist full of my hair and is using it as a tether to keep me away from the ring.

"No hair pulling!" I cry out in pain as exorcism needed Bilbo gathers more of the curly locks "That's fighting dirty!"

"Don't touch my precious!"

He gives my hair a mighty tug and of course my head follows behind it, causing my to fall backwards and almost off the bed. I reach up and try to untangle his fingers from the length but he has a good grip. Deciding that I've had enough, I fight a little dirty myself and hope for the best. Spinning to face the hobbit, I sucker punch him in the stomach before solidly headbutting him in the face. He immediately lets go of my hair to hold his stomach and now bleeding nose. I want to rush over to help him but I know I need to do something about the ring first. Dashing over to the band, I slip it on my left hand quickly before approaching the bloody hobbit cautiously.

"Bilbo..." I grab a towel and offer it to him, cautious in case he tries to jump me again "Are you alright now?"

"Ugh... what..." he presses the towel absently against his face in a dazed manner "What happened?"

"You found my ring and it drove you mad." I explain without remorse, but smiling gently to lessen the impact "When you wouldn't give it back, I decided to take it by force. We tussled. You lost. The end."

"But why?" he is so confused, poor thing "I don't... You're bleeding! Did I hurt you?"

"I'm not bleeding, just you." I say after touching my sore and blood stained forehead but finding no wound "You tried to hurt me but-"

"Oh Thia I'm so sorry!" he drops his towel, ignoring the fresh blood that leaks onto, once pristine, his shirt "How could I-"

"Bilbo, its alright." I raise my hands and they clink along with my calming gestures "I understand what happened. It wasn't your fault."

"You do?" he questions dazed, as I hand him the towel again "Because I don't."

"Gollum. You remember him." he shivers but nods "He was a hobbit once, about 500 years ago."

"That can not be!" he shuffles towards me and I wince at the black eyes he's going to have come morning "Hobbits do not live that long. I do not know what he was, but he was not a hobbit!"

"The ring turned him into that... thing. It twisted him; physically, emotionally... mentally." I lift the towel and replace it on his face lightly, too disturbed to just stare at his quickly swelling cheeks. Hobbits are clearly not made for combat "It would turn you too if given the time needed. Already started."

"And you?" he asks a good question to which I just blink at. He points to my hand where the ring rests "Will it turn you?"

"No, Bilbo." I assure him, though I don't know why I know that it won't but I know. I just know it won't. Or rather, it can't "Anyway, I need to discuss this with Gandalf. Not to mention, I promised to make Ori some chips."

~~~~~~~~~~Shishi~~~~~~~~~~

After we clean up ourselves and the room, Bilbo and I split up. I head to the kitchen and he goes of to search for our wizard friend. I begin to chop potatoes while I wait, having nothing better to do.

"Chop chop chop, go the heads on the block."

"That's horribly morbid, earth walker"

"Ah, look who it is." I giggle at my own joke "How are you doing, Who?"

"The wind carries me well today." he answers, either missing or not bothering to respond to my jest "And yourself?"

"Uh... The earth stands steady beneath my feet."

"I am glad to find you well." he flies over to perch on my shoulder as I continue my work "Will you make good on your promise now?"

"What promise?"

"You promised to sing for me the day you first arrived." he coos low in his throat "A song about the wind and its colors."

"Ah yes, colors of the wind. I did say I would, didn't I?" he hums in agreement and expectation "Alright then. I've got time. But first you must answer my question."

"Which question would that be?"

"The day my company arrived and you viciously attacked me" I ignore his affronted fluttering "you said that your 'assumption was correct.' What assumption were you talking about?"

"Hmmm, just that your thoughts were filled with Beorn."

"Well yea... I mean he was just there..." I'm not good with this sort of thing. Though what this sort of thing is, I don't know "I tend to think of people I'm around, you know? Its only polite..."

"So there is hope for the other."

"Other?"

"... You earth walkers are a strange breed."

"Hey!" I cry out as he pecks at my bead "If you don't cut that out, I'm not singing."

"My apologies, mistress." he mock bows in the cutest fashion "Please do not punish me."

"Alright alright. Enough of that."

Without further adue I begin to sing one of my favorite disney songs of all time. I start off low, its almost a hum. I only start to get louder as the tempo picks up. I pet Who when it mentions creatures and he buries his head into my hand.

"But I know every rock and tree and creature

Has a life, has a spirit, has a name"

"has a name" he hoots in echo

With each verse he either echos me or actually answers. Its an amazingly adorable rendition of the song and I feel my heart lighten with each passing line.

"You think the only people who are people

Are the people who look and think like you"

"Like you."

"But if you walk the footsteps of a stranger

You'll learn things you never knew you never knew"

"Never knew."

I'm reminded of the scene with the bear. I was so happy John Smith didn't kill the mama bear, or else the babies would have died. 'Beorn will have a son.' I nearly pause in the song when the thought crosses my mind. I know it's true, Beorn does have a son before he dies. However, I didn't know that before now. It's not part of the movie and I don't remember reading it in the book. I shouldn't be able to know it, but I do. Accepting that maybe there is some truth to my cover story, I smile a bit wider.

"Have you ever heard the wolf cry to the blue corn moon."

"No I have not."

"Or asked the grinning bobcat why he grinned?"

"Is it because he's happy?"

"Can you sing with all the voices of the mountains?"

"I've never tried"

"Can you paint with all the colors of the wind?"

"Yes I can!"

"Can you paint with all the colors of the wind?"

"The wind!"

Who leaps from my shoulder and flies out the door. I lower my knife and follow after him because wherever he's going is sure to be a ton of fun. I chase him out the house and we circle the dwarves who look on in amusement.

"Come run the hidden pine trails of the forest"

"forest"

"Come taste the sunsweet berries of the Earth"

"the earth"

"Come roll in all the riches all around you"

"round you"

"And for once, never wonder what they're worth"

I grab the closest dwarf, who just so happens to be Kili, and swing him into a dance with me. He laughs openly and we gain momentum until I think my feet may fly off the floor. He sets me right and I pick dance partners like berries.

"The rainstorm and the river are my brothers"

"The heron and the otter are my friends"

"Are we friends?" Who asks excitedly

"And we are all connected to each other

In a circle, in a hoop that never ends"

"Ever?"

"How high will the sycamore grow?"

"I... don't know"

"If you cut it down, then you'll never know

And you'll never hear the wolf cry to the blue corn moon"

"Whats that?"

"For whether we are white or copper skinned"

"or feathered!"

"We need to sing with all the voices of the mountains

We need to paint with all the colors of the wind"

"Wind! Wind!"

"You can own the Earth and still

All you'll own is Earth until

You can paint with all the colors of the wind"

Applause crashes into my little sing song world and it startles me so badly I nearly collapse. Who flies over and rests in my hair, hiding beneath the messy updo. 'Daddy always said that crazy people had birds in their hair... and Radaghast proves that true.' Plucking the small owl from his place, I let him rest in the crook of my arm as I bow.

"How did you get the bird to hoot along with you?" Bombur asks, obviously curious

"He did it on his own." I begin to go finish my work, not feeling so brave anymore "He's not a pet I can teach tricks to."

"That's a pretty song ye've got there lass." Bofur smiles "Will you be singing tonight too?"

"Only if inspiration hits!" I say running back into the house

"Thank you for the song." Who hoots

"It was no problem." I reply quickly, catching my breath "Now fly off, I've got work to do."

He does as instructed and happily flies off into the barn area. I make my way back into the kitchen and finish chopping my now soggy potatoes which sizzle horribly in the oil. I'm nearly done frying and salting them when Bilbo finally arrives with Gandalf. After delivering the wizard, he scuttles off to lick his wounds in private. Gandalf walks into the kitchen and I wish Beorn had a low chandelier for the wizard to knock his head against just because.

"My dear, I hear you have something of importance to discuss with me?"

"Indeed, its about my ring." I wipe my hands on a hand towel and give the elder my attention "I found it."

"Ah well that is wonderful." He smiles nodding "Now you-"

"There is one problem." I cut him off as he takes a seat "A really big problem."

"Well my dear." he huffs sitting up straighter "If it's damaged or-"

"One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them" I hold out my hand and his eyes grow dark as his finally understands what I'm carrying "One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness, bind them."

"Thia Malcolmson." he says my name so coldly that a shiver actually runs through me "Where did you get that?"

"It's mine, Gandalf." I twirl the band around in my palm nervously before slipping it on "My ring is the ring of power."

~~~~~~~~~~Shishi~~~~~~~~~~

Greetings readers! I hope this chapter has found you in good health. If you haven't noticed, I love Disney movies. I'm sure I'll throw one or two more of another genre in here before the story is done. What do you guys think? Like it? Love it? Hate it? Feel free to review or PM me, I love it all. Thank you... No one... for no reviews... That's unfortunate. Until next time!