Title: A tale about friendship, Part 28?

Author: Dís Thráinsdotter

E-mail: Overall rating: M, for violence and orctorment. This chapter: K+

Summary: A group of children are told the tale of their friendship with the dwarves in general and the Folk of Durin in particular.

Warnings: The overall rating of this fic is R, as parts of it deals with violent battle and torment. There are also Original Characters in the fic, but no Mary Sues. Unbetaed, all mistakes belong to me.

Disclaimer: I don't own any one of Tolkien's characters, never have, and never will. The only ones I own are the people you have never met before.

Chapter 28, Beorn the Skin changer

Gandalf smiled when he saw the relief on the children's faces and when Fili asked him how he had made friends with the Eagle lord, Gandalf answered "some years before the journey to Erebor I was riding from the Woodland Realm to Rivendell when I heard the sound of wings and a young, very worried Eagle landed before me. He asked me to come with him and I mounted him. He took me to the High Shelf where I met their Lord who had an arrow in his chest. I removed the arrow and healed the wound, afterwards he was most thankful to me and we became friends."

The children nodded when they heard the story, understanding that friends can come in many shapes including that of an Eagle.

"The following morning" Balin said "we had a breakfast consisting of cold rabbit, hare and mutton. Afterwards we mounted 15 Eagles and they brought us to a safe place away from the mountains. We bid the Lord farewell and promised to repay him for his aid if ever we were able to do so. After a while we came to the place the Eagles were making for, a cliff in the middle of the Anduin that Gandalf later told us was called The Carrock, and they landed one by one so we could dismount them. When all of us stood on the top of the cliff they bid us farewell in the manner of their kind and Gandalf answered in the same manner. We went down from the top using a set of steps that had been hewn into the cliff and we came down to the bottom where we found a cave with a pebbly floor. We gathered in the cave talking about what to do next and it was then we were told by Gandalf that he would soon leave us."

The children looked shocked and amazed at Gandalf and Balin laughed at the sight. "That is how we reacted also, we were shocked and some of us even wept. We pleaded with him; offering him gold, silver and jewels from the Dragon hoard but he wouldn't be moved. He did tell us that he wasn't leaving that instant, all of us needed aid and he knew a person who could give it to us, a Man named Beorn who was described as a skin changer. He could become an appalling enemy if he was angered (and he was easily angered Gandalf said) but a trusty friend if we rubbed him the right way. When Bilbo heard that he was a skin changer he thought that he was a furrier but Gandalf told him that he isn't. He literally changes skin; at times he is a large Man with black hair and beard and at other times he is a great black Bear. He lives largely of milk and honey, as he never eats any meat. He has wonderful animals in his service that are his friends. Having no choice we decided to go to his house.

We crossed the river on steppingstones that we found there carrying Bilbo as we crossed, and then walked almost all day until we came to a group of tall, ancient Oaks forming a belt around a thorny hedge. Then Gandalf told us that we should wait there until he called or whistled; when he did we were to come in pairs with five minutes between each pair. As Bombur was so large he was to be the last to come, and he didn't like that at all. When Gandalf had said this he brought Bilbo with him while he spoke of a Gate that he knew was near.

While we waited for Gandalf to send a message to us Thórin divided our group into pairs. When that was done to everyone's satisfaction save Bombur´s, we heard Gandalf whistle the first time and Thórin and Dori left, after Thórin had warned us that we needed to keep the five minute interval between the pairs. Dwalin and I formed the third pair and when we arrived to the porch where the rest were sitting we bowed very deeply in order to be as polite as we could, smiling and nodding while we waved our hoods before our knees. Finally Beorn laughed and told us that he only wanted our names, and that we were to sit down and stop prattling. We sat straight down on the floor after telling him our names and listened to Gandalf who was telling the tale of how we had come to be captured by the Orcs and how we had made it away from them. While Gandalf told the story one more pair interrupted him every five minutes until finally the last three of us; Bifur, Bofur and Bombur came and we had gathered on Beorn´s porch. By the time Gandalf had finished his story the sun was setting, and Beorn invited us all to a meal which we gratefully accepted."

When the children looked questioningly at Gandalf he said to them "I had to make the story interesting enough for Beorn to accept all fifteen of us in his house so I divided the story into parts of five minutes. When each part ended a new pair would come and disturb Beorn, keeping his interest in the story while the story stopped him from sending the Dwarves away. When I had finished Beorn told me that we deserved a meal for our effort, and we were served a great supper during which Beorn´s Dogs waited on us. We hadn't had that kind of supper since we left the Last Homely House and while we ate Beorn told us about the animals living in the area. He also told us that if we left his house before sunrise it was at our own peril, so we promised him to stay inside."

Balin nodded and added, "after the meal we told Beorn stories of our own but he seemed to be nodding off, disinterested in the things we told him about. Suddenly the door closed and Gandalf reminded us that we weren't to go outside until sunrise. We sat by the fire singing many songs and smoking while Gandalf gave varying shapes and colours to our smoke rings, sending them dancing around the ceiling and finally out through the smoke hole. They must have looked strange to anyone watching them on the outside. Finally we all went to bed finding beds made for us and we slept through the night. Bilbo told us the following morning that he had woken during the night and had heard strange sounds outside the house. He had wondered who were making the sounds, covered in the bed, as he was afraid that we were to be eaten and finally fell asleep again.

All of us save Bilbo woke up at sunrise and were given breakfast on the porch by the Dogs. After we had eaten Gandalf told us to wake Bilbo who wouldn't be happy if we ate all the food and wait in the house until he returned to us. We didn't see either Beorn or Gandalf that day, Gandalf returned while we were eating supper and he refused to answer any of our questions until he had eaten and had a pipe."

The children looked puzzled and Gandalf explained to them that he had been walking through the forest all day without a bite, he needed to eat supper and have a calming smoke before he would answer the questions that he was being showered with at his arrival. When he was willing to speak he told them that he had followed Beorn´s tracks over the river and through the forest on the other side. The tracks were pointing in the direction of the wargglade. "Bilbo thought that Beorn would be bringing the Orcs and Wargs to the house" Gandalf said "but I told him that his mind was sleepy and ordered him to go to bed, which he did while the rest of us sat around the fire singing and smoking. He fell asleep quickly as I remember it. Finally the rest of us went to bed as well."

TBC