Oh my goodness! I am so sorry for taking so long in updating! Had flu for past few weeks and lost the strength and energy to keep going. But, I've finally got this up and will be working on the next chapters and get them ready for the weekend! I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Review response:

Dragonett8 – Thank you! I'm glad they're getting better as I go on. I know for a fact this story has certainly come a long way from when I first started it years ago with the old version. Just to let you know, there will be quite a few changes from that one to this one as we keep going. I hope you enjoy the changes I make to it. xx

Planning

Once we are back inside, we sit around Beorn's large table eating breakfast. Beorn walks around pouring out milk into the huge wooden mugs we are using. He now has a woolen tunic covering his chest with a brown belt around his waist.

"So you are the one they call Oakenshield." Beorn asks Thorin. "Tell me, why is Azog the Defiler hunting you?"

"You know of Azog? How?" Thorin turns to him.

"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. Not for work, you understand, but for sport. Caging skin-changers and torturing them seemed to amuse him."

I look down at this, being the only other to know first hand just how cruel the orcs could really be.

"There are others like you?" Bilbo asks.

"Once, there were many."

"And now?"

"Now, there is only one."

We all look on in silence. To be the only one of your kind. . .it has got to be heart breaking. . .

Beorn sits in one of his huge chairs. "You need to reach the mountain before the last days of autumn?"

"Before Durin's Day falls, yes." Gandalf answers.

"You are running out of time."

"Which is why we must go through Mirkwood."

I look up at this. Go through Mirkwood? I hope Gandalf isn't serious about that.

"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."

I look to Gandalf, a sudden anger at my old friend running through me. "Safe? If those elves get wind of thirteen dwarves strolling through their forest, do you think they will allow us to continue? No, they will not. All of us will be locked up in their dungeons, with no way out. And then what? We will be stuck there."

"She is right." Beorn says, I am thankful I have someone on my side at least. "The Wood-Elves of Mirkwood are not like their kin. They're less wise and more dangerous. Apart from your friend here, of course. But it matters not."

"What do you mean?" Thorin asks.

"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?"

Gandalf tells him that we'll need somewhere to stay for a while, as Thorin and I are still injured and cannot move on. Beorn happily allows us to stay in his home, until we are well enough to travel.

I stand and walk out the front door, wanting to get away from the wizard. I walk out of the gate and sit in the plains alone, facing the direction in which Mirkwood is residing. For over a hundred years, I had no intentions of returning home. . .and now. . .it seems I am forced to walk through the woods once more.

"Caladwen?" I look up to see Thorin walking towards me. He sits next to me. "Are you alright?"

I shake my head. "No. The one place I have been avoiding for over a hundred years and now I have to return."

"We will only be going through the forest, Cal. We won't be going anywhere near the city."

I scoff. "Sure. And do you think the elves are going to just let us walk through. They have patrols in every tree just watching to see who walks through. Once they see us, they will pounce like a pack of wild dogs. And I, for one, do not wish to see him again."

"Thranduil?"

I nod. "I stopped speaking to him after he sent you away. Never spoke a word. The only people I would speak to or see was my brother and Tauriel. Tauriel was the one who helped me escape a couple months later, and when I did, I never looked back."

He looks to me for a moment before he wraps his arm around my shoulder and pulls me into him. "Everything will be alright, Caladwen. Even if we were to be captured by the elves, we will get through it together, just like we always said."

I smile as I look to him. "You are right. As long as we are together, we can get through anything."

He smiles as he kisses my temple before looking back towards Mirkwood, both of u lost in our own thoughts. I know that Thorin is right, as long as we're together, nothing can stop us. But I also fear about what will happen once we are in those woods. As well as having to handle the wrath of my father, we have to face the unknown of the supposed sickness going through the woods and that scared me more than anything.

For the next week or so, we were finally at peace as we rested in Beorn's home. Since I couldn't do much because of my wound, I had often found myself spending a lot of time with the Skin-Changer helping him prepare meals, collecting honey, milk, nuts and berries and even helping him with the animals. I had become fond of his horses out back. They were beautiful black and white horses and ponies.

As we are coming close to our tenth day at Beorn's, I am beginning to get restless. Especially while I am watching the dwarves training. Balin has even decided to take Bilbo under his wing and teach him how to use his sword, or letter opener as Balin dubbed it.

I want to get right in there and train with them, but I knew if Oin caught me, he will probably try to stop me from fighting until we reach Erebor. Oin is just as bad as Dori with being the mothering type, but being the healer of the group, makes him worse.

When I wake up on the morning of the tenth day, I open my eyes to see Oin cleaning the wound on my side.

He notices me awake. "Good morning."

"Morning." I reply, groggily as I am still waking up. "How is it?"

"It is not completely healed, but I have been able to take out the sutures today."

I look to him in surprise for a moment before I sit up slightly and look down. The scar is still bright pink, which means it is still healing. Luckily, it has not become infected in this time, which I am thankful for. With the sutures now being removed, I can see the scar is completely healed over and is clean, thanks to Oin's marvelous suture skills.

Oin sits back once he finishes, allowing me to sit up fully. "I know you have been itching to do some sparring with the others, and now that the sutures have been taken out, as long as you are careful, I will allow you to train with them now."

I smile. "Thank you, Oin. Not just for the permission, but for taking care of me as well."

He just smiles. "There is no need to thank me, it is my duty to look after the injured."

I smile as I strap on my daggers to my back and leave the house with him, after having a quick breakfast, following the sounds of steel against steel. Smiling, I find the others in the clearing, some are training others are sat around.

Gandalf, who I have not been talking too since his announcement, is sat on a log smoking his pipe while talking with Beorn, Ori is on the ground sketching away, his brothers sitting oneither side of him. Oin joins his brother, Gloin, Balin with Bilbo at a quieter end of the clearing as he is instructing him and I smile as I see Thorin and Dwalin sparring with Fili and Kili.

Fili smiles as he notices me walking over. "Well, well, look who is finally up!"

The other three stop and look over. Thorin smiles as he walks over.

"How are you faring, this morning?" he asks after giving me a quick kiss.

"Good. Oin took my sutures out this morning."

He smiles again. "That is good news. Will you be sparring with us?"

I nod. "Yes. Oin has given me permission, as long as I am careful."

He nods and the two of us go to the others and we lightly spar with each other. The spar soon turns into a battle with Fili, Kili and I facing against Dwalin and Thorin. After a few moments, as our battle becomes harsher, Fili, Kili and Dwalin stop so they can watch us, along with the other dwarves, who I hear start to take on bets to who would win.

I smile as I swing my daggers at Thorin. The last time we had fought like this was in Erebor and I forgot how much fun it was, just to spar for fun and not for saving your life. I see the smirk on Thorin's face and can tell he is thinking the same thing as I.

As I swing around for him, I foolishly, leave a gap open and he soon has me disarmed, my daggers flying off to the side. I could hear a few of the dwarves gasp in surprise, probably the ones who betted on me winning.

He grins as he twirls Orcrist around in his hand. "Do you yeild?"

I grin back as I take up defensive position. "Not a chance!"

He looks to me, an eyebrow raised. "You are unarmed."

I just smirk. "Come on, old man, scared you will be beaten by a defenseless girl?"

I know I insulted him twice then, calling him old and a man instead of dwarf. Which is my intention. Make his irritation get in the way of his thinking so I can take him by surprise. Which works as he suddenly charges towards me. I quickly dodge out of the way, making him run past me. I run at him, jumping onto his back causing him to fall face first into the ground. I pin his arms down with my knees so he can't use his arms, before pulling out a hidden knife from my boot and pulls his head up by his hair, thrusting my dagger close to his neck so he could feel the blade, but not close enough to pierce.

I smirk as I lean my head close to his ear. "Do YOU yield?"

I hear him grumble for a while before nodding. "Aye. I yield."

I smile as I stand, pulling Thorin up with me before we go to the others after retrieving my daggers. Smiling, I bow as they all cheer.

"Well done, Cal! That was an amazing show!" Bofur exclaimed to me.

The others agree. I just smile and sit down as I watch pouches of money being exchanged. It turns out Fili, Kili, Bofur, Ori, Nori and Oin believed I would win. I am surprised Oin betted for me seeing as how he would probably kill me for fighting that hard. He just slaps my shoulder after checking my wound is still alright, which it is thankfully.

The rest of the day goes by peacefully. I sit back and watch the others spar with each other while talking with Bilbo. When Thorin finishes, he walks over and sits besides me. I smile as I lay back and lay my head in his lap, allowing him to run his hand over my hair. We stay there In silence, just watching the others.

"It would have been our wedding anniversary in a few weeks." I hear Thorin say quietly as he fingers my engagement bead.

I nod as I reach up and twiddle his silver ring. "Yes, I know. Do you. . .Do you ever think what our lives would have been like had we gotten married?"

"It was all I used to think about, especially when Dis married. I know life in exile would have felt less dark with you there."

I smile as I reach up and run my fingers over his cheek. "I do wish I was there. There were times when I would just and watch the gates of Ered Luin from afar, and I wanted to walk through them and find you. . .I was just afraid I would not be accepted and sent away again."

I watch as his expression turns from relaxed to sorrow. "I am so sorry about that day, had I known you were there, I would not have allowed you to leave. I didn't know Burun had sent you away until I found your letter a week later."

I smile as I remember watching him and the others walk into that clearing. "It is alright. You have nothing to be sorry for."

"Neither did you. What happened was not your doing, I know you tried your best to get us help. Thranduil is the one who turned us away, not you."

I give a small smile as we go quiet for a few moments.

"I saw you that day. The day you found that letter, I had just put it on the tree before I heard you coming. I had enough time to hide in the trees before you stumbled upon my gift for you. I would have revealed myself to you, but I was still under the impression I was not wanted."

He just wraps his arms around me and pulls me into him. "I will always want you, Caladwen. I have you in my arms once more, and I will never let you go again."

I wrap my own around him. "Well, I know now that, if anything were to happen and we were separated, I know that I can come running straight back to you without delay."

He smiles as he holds me close while we continue to watch the training. No matter what has happened in our past, now that I am with him, I am not going to let anything or anyone else get in between us and drive us apart. My future is with Thorin, and once this quest is over, and we can begin it as we should have years ago. Together as husband and wife.

Well, there we have it. We'll be arriving in Mirkwood next time. Please keep leaving your lovely reviews and stay tuned for the next chapter.