AWAKEN

I KNOW YOU ARE THERE...

Deep within the misty mountains were the old halls of Erebor that had laid vacant for the last 150 years, but inside was like a world of dreams that every poor man or greedy Dwarf has had at least once in their life. A waterfall made of glittering silver and a small ocean of brilliant and dazzling gold. It had remained untouched, unnoticed by the sun but the shining treasure was beautiful enough that it could burn your eyes if you gaze upon it for too long.

AND I KNOW YOU CAN HEAR ME...

An unknown rumble began to shake the horde of treasure and the coins started to slide off this creature who laid buried within the ocean of gold. It shook and trembled the whole mountain as the treasure began to slip off these scales made of armor...revealing a closed dragon's eye underneath.

AND I KNOW...THAT YOU HAVE AWAKENED...

The eye shot open and burned with this molten gold color that had baked within the fires since the day he was created.


Our dear Jeanne gasped suddenly and her eyes flashed open, flickering back and forth between a shimmering blue and a burning ember. She took a few deep breaths to calm herself down and the unusual gray veins began to slowly disappear.

It was the middle of the night and the moon has decided to resign high in the sky and shine down a shimmering pale light on the sleeping camp of Dwarves. Finally, they were given a chance to rest since it hasn't been long since they escaped from Azog and his Warg scouts. It wouldn't be long either till they caught up with them and will be forced to flee. Azog and his scouts though...weren't the only thing that had Jeanne worried and kept her up for most of the times. She felt her stomach twist and turn as the air gradually became hotter day by day. She was sure that no one else had noticed the sudden change in the atmosphere but knew it wasn't because of the Orcs that they haven't noticed. It was merely Jeanne alone that was unfortunate enough to pick up on these small connections that she felt every so often.

If Jeanne was born from fire... than Smaug the Terrible was just like fire himself. He was fire.

Just now...she felt a connection with the terrible creature and had made a grim discovery that he, the dragon...is waking up.

Jeanne took in a deep breath from the hot air and exhaled it back out into the world when a shiver suddenly ran down her skin like an icy needle. She snapped her head up towards the cliffs and narrowed her eyes. "Azog?" She said as her eyes began to flash a golden color. She scrambled up to her feet and rushed over to the sleeping Dwarf prince, Thorin Oakenshield and started to shake him frantically, but the Dwarf was a light sleeper and sprung awake immediately, yanking Jeanne's hand out of habit. Once he saw who it was he calmed down, but not for long, for Jeanne's eyes were burning.

"Jeanne?" He spoke in a slightly panicked voice and brushed his hand to the side of her face. She filched from the sudden action and froze when his warm yet rough hands touched her skin. "What's wrong? Are you alright?"

Jeanne smiled very slightly to comfort him and pulled his hand away. "I'm fine but...Azog...he's coming." Her voice shuddered.

Thorin's eyes slowly for only a minute before they narrowed. He gripped Jeanne's hand tightly when it began to tremble with growing fear and distress.


Dawn was approaching fast but that only meant bad news for the party, for Azog the Defiler was still hot on their trail and getting closer with every step him and his Warg pack took. The Dwarves only knew that once daybreak rose, that they would be at a disadvantage in the light.

Jeanne stood by the rocks and saw Bilbo running down the path after getting a good look at where Azog was. "So?" She asked. "How close were they?"

"Too close. A couple of leagues, no more, but that is not the worse of it." He said in one breath. Frantic and pale, the young Hobbit was.

"Have the Wargs picked up on...or, uh, Miss Jeanne's scent?" Balin took a glance at Jeanne who only looked down. It wasn't her fault, he knew. Jeanne's scent was very unusual and smelled of iron and smoke.

Bilbo was quick to defend Jeanne. "Not yet, but they will; we have another problem."

Gandalf's eyes went wide. "Did they see you?"

"No, that's not it."

Gandalf smiled. "What did I tell you? Quiet as a mouse. Excellent burglar material." He said proudly as the Dwarves chuckled with appreciation.

Bilbo tried to get his panicked words out. "Will you listen...Will just listen? I'm trying to tell you there is something else out there."

Jeanne's face noticeably became pale. "Bilbo, uh, did this thing...take the form of a bear by chance?" She gave a worried glance to Gandalf who shared her concern.

Bilbo paused. "Ye...yes, but bigger, much bigger."

"You knew about this beast?" Bofur asked and Jeanne shook her head. "I say we double back."

"And be run down by a pack of Orcs?" Thorin cut in.

Gandalf spoke up but the way his voice sounded was uneasy. "There is a house, it's not far from here, where we might take refuge."

Thorin looked skeptical. "Whose house? Are they friend or Foe?"

"Neither. He will help us, or...he will kill us." His answer didn't sit right with the Dwarves.

"What choice do we have?"

Next thing they hear was an ear-splitting, bone-rattling roar that sounded nothing like a Warg. It was something else. Something bigger. And what made it all the more worse is that this new creature...it sounded closer than Azog and angrier.

"None," Gandalf said.


The race to shelter and potential safety was on. The party began to run through plains and through streams as the sound of the howl got closer and closer, but they didn't see the bear yet.

"Come on! This way quickly!" Gandalf shouted while leading the way.

It was a determined run that turned into a panicked dash once the ear-splitting roar sounded like it was a few feet behind them. Jeanne stopped and turned around and swore she saw something large stomping its way through the thick brush.

"Don't stop! Run, Jeanne!" Thorin grabbed Jeanne by her hand and dragged her along.

They made it out of the thick woods and saw a house surrounded by large hedges in the middle of the plains. They made like an arrow and darted right for it, and Bombur...somehow was able to outrun all the Dwarves. He was an unstoppable force until he ran straight into the door of the house and fell back. The Dwarves ran up to the locked door and began to pound on it.

Gandalf looked back the edge of the forest and saw the beast, the mighty black bear that was taller than all of them break through the treeline. It trampled the woods and ripped up the roots as it began to run towards them.

Gandalf screeched at the Dwarves who still haven't opened the door. "Open the door!"

Jeanne pushes through the Dwarves and up to the door. "Oh, you're taking all day about it." She reached her arm out and lifted the exterior bolt and finally, at long last, the door opened and the Dwarves poured in like water just as the bear made it to the house.

The bear slammed its large body against the door as the Dwarves worked together to fight the creature off. It snapped and snarled, roaring like a monster at them. They were able to slam the door shut and barricaded it with a piece of wood in front of the door. After the life and death situation was over, Jeanne felt like her heart was going to burst from all the running and adrenaline that ran through her veins. She backed up against a support beam and slid down it, taking a breath of relief.

"What is that?" Ori said.

"That...is our host," Gandalf said and took a glance to Jeanne to see if she was alright. She gave him a small wave to assure him. "His name is Beorn, and he is a skin-changer. Sometimes he's a huge black bear; sometimes he's a great strong man. The bear is unpredictable, but the man can be reasoned with. However, he is not overfond of Dwarves." He scanned over his party...that was mostly Dwarves.

Dori exclaimed. "It's not natural, none of it. It's obvious: he's under some sort of dark spell."

"Don't be a fool; he's under no enchantment but his own." He said. "Alright now, get some sleep, all of you." Gandalf noticed the heavy dark circles under Jeanne's eyes. "You'll be safe here tonight..." He turned around and mumbled under his breath. "I hope."


Author's Note:

Welcome back again, my lovelies. Our dear Jeanne is back with the Dwarves and we got a long road ahead of us. We got weekly updates and exciting developments in Jeanne's and Thorin's relationship. Let me know that you're enjoying it because it really helps with motivation and I tend to write better with it.

Oh, and I almost forgot. The connection between Samug and Jeanne. I thought it would be interesting if there was a faint link between them since they are both from awful origins of darkness and in a way...fire related. I was fighting for a way to begin the second installment so I thought, at the last moment, it would be pretty cool if Jeanne sensed that Smaug was waking up and be terrified. God, I can't wait till they meet...and write the beginning of Thorin's downfall because of the treasure and Jeanne's reaction to it. That's gonna be heartbreaking to write in the third installment, but that's not for a while, so until then...please enjoy FFTS (From Fire to Smolder).