Chapter 10 to finish off Friday! Thank you very much to amrawo for your review! And to the people who followed and faved, I hope you all enjoy this chapter.
The next evening, the company was waiting among the trees at the bottom of a small hill for Bilbo. They had made their way further away from the Carrock during the day and had now sent Bilbo out as a scout to see whether Azog was still on their tail or if it was safe to set up camp once more. None of them really thought that they had lost the orcs and it was crucial that they kept as much distance between themselves and the pack as possible.
Arinna was sat on a tree stump at the back of the group, her fingers nervously tapping the hilt of her sword as she stared at the trees where Bilbo had disappeared a little while ago.
"He'll be perfectly fine," Gandalf spoke from beside her, sensing her unease, and the druid looked up shortly before she returned her gaze to the trees. The wizard spoke confidently, though it did nothing to lessen the worry in the druid's stomach. "The orcs are still a ways off."
"It is not the orcs I am worried about, Gandalf," Arinna answered him quietly, so as not to alert the others, not looking up to see the wizard tilt his head slightly at her words. He had expected her to mention the subject at some point. "You know that these are his lands. He'll not take kindly to strangers."
"Perhaps not," Gandalf answered, knowing very well whom the druid was referring to. "But we must try our luck with him in the morning anyway. Our provisions are low and we will not be able to outrun the orcs on open land for much longer."
Arinna just inclined her head, knowing that the wizard was right. Though she was less convinced that the skin-changer Beorn was sleeping soundly in his house as they spoke and that they were perfectly safe wandering his grounds during the night. The thought didn't make her like the wizard's plan any better. She had travelled close to his lands long ago, remembering the stream that marked the edge. The stream that Fili and her had argued at and which they had crossed that very morning. She knew that Beorn owned and protected these lands, and though she had never met him in person, the stories that were told of him were enough to have her concerned. The druid looked up sharply when the hobbit suddenly appeared among the trees again, walking back into their midst with a wide-eyed expression.
"How close is the pack?" Dwalin asked immediately, before Bilbo had a chance to even catch his breath.
"Too close," the hobbit answered. "A couple of leagues, no more. But that is not the worst of it."
Arinna perked up at Bilbo's words, feeling her heart fill with a dreadful certainty that she already knew what he was speaking of. She shot Gandalf a small look, though the wizard did not return it, his gaze instead trained on Bilbo. The dwarves kept questioning the hobbit before he could explain himself.
"Have the wargs picked up our scent?"
"Not yet, but they will," Bilbo said, before he tried again. "But we have another problem."
"Did they see you?" Gandalf asked worriedly, stepping forward. "They saw you!"
"No!" The hobbit exclaimed with an exasperated shake of his head. "That's not it."
Gandalf spoke over him before he could say what he thought the actual problem was. Arinna could see his frustration rise along with her own. She had stood up by now, taking a few steps closer to the rest of the group. "What did I tell you?" Gandalf was saying. "Quiet as a mouse. Excellent burglar material."
Arinna shook her head slightly while the dwarves chuckled loudly at Gandalf's words, nodding in appreciation of the little hobbit, who was now looking rather enervated. He called out over the lot of them, desperately voicing his sighting.
"Will you listen! Will you just listen to me?! I'm trying to tell you that there is something else out there."
The druid was the first one to speak as the dwarves just looked at Bilbo with a mixture of worry and confusion. "What form did it take, Bilbo?" She asked quietly, looking at him seriously when his eyes fell on her. She raised her eyebrows. "Like a bear?"
"Ye… Yes," the hobbit stuttered, frowning at the lack of surprise on her face. Arinna let out a deep breath, looking up at Gandalf again whose expression had suddenly darkened. "Yes, but bigger. Much bigger."
"I told you this would happen, Gandalf."
The dwarves looked up at the wizard now, some accusingly, some worriedly. Gandalf furrowed his brows, taking a few steps away from the dwarves as he seemed to think.
"That what would happen? You knew about this beast?" Bofur asked loudly, looking from the wizard to the druid and then to the leader of their company. He gave him a tense look."I say we double back."
"And be run down by a pack of orcs," Thorin finished his idea darkly, shaking his head. "We can't go back."
While the dwarves exchanged concerned looks at the dwarf-king's words, knowing them to be true, Gandalf sighed and spoke again, avoiding Arinna's pointed look as he did.
"There is a house," he said, addressing Thorin directly. "It's not far from here. We might take refuge there."
The dwarf-king raised his eyebrows questioningly at the wizard's words, his gaze shortly flicking toward Arinna who was shaking her head to herself. "Whose house? Are they friend or foe?"
"Neither," the druid interjected with a small huff and Gandalf inclined his head at her words, nodding his agreement to Thorin, whose doubtful gaze wandered between them.
"He will help us, or he will kill us," the wizard admitted, causing Thorin's eyebrows to rise in disbelief at the suggestion, when suddenly a loud roar split the night behind them. Gandalf looked in the direction of the dangerously close sound, and then urgently back at Thorin. "I am afraid your choice has just been made for you. Run! Run!"
They took off without any hesitation as the bear roared again, making their way through the trees, across clearings and small streams as fast as they could. They were following Gandalf, expecting that he would lead them to this house he had spoken of. The bear's roar grew louder behind them, when suddenly, other sounds could be heard. The familiar sounds of warg howls echoed through the forest, mingling with the bear's snarls, while the companions hastened along.
Arinna's legs were carrying her almost too quickly as she ran down a hill behind the others, and she almost tripped over her own feet, barely managing to catch herself before she fell. She saw the same thing happen to Bombur only a little distance ahead of her, though the dwarf had more trouble not to lose balance due to his enormous weight. He suddenly slowed considerably, trying to get his footing again and Arinna quickly reached out her hand and caught the front of his coat as she sped past him, dragging the fat dwarf behind her.
"Come on, Bombur! No time to stop" She yelled as they exited the forest together, suddenly coming onto a plain in the middle of which they could see a large house, surrounded by a giant hedge. Another ear-splitting roar sounded behind them and Arinna could feel Bombur's pace fasten considerably, fear driving him on as it did her.
They reached the house just when the dwarves before them managed to lift the heavy bolt that kept the front door shut, pushing it open and scrambling inside. Bombur and Arinna made their way inside quickly, and the druid shot a look over her shoulder to see the bear now out in the open, racing toward them. It was the biggest bear she had ever seen, a mass of black fur and pure fury.
"Close the door!" Thorin yelled and the dwarves hurried to follow his order, pushing at the heavy door, when the bear suddenly reached them and slammed against the entrance with full force, its head sticking in the open gap and snapping at the dwarves. The beast's loud roars filled the house as the companions threw themselves against the door with their whole weight, finally managing to close it with one final heave. They bolted it shut from inside, looking on and listening in shock, fear and exhaustion, as the bear growled and pounded its paws against the wood from the outside. It took a few long moments before the beast finally gave up and seemed to retreat.
"What… is that?" Asked Ori breathlessly, listening to the bear's heavy steps slowly move away from the house.
"That is our host," answered Gandalf with a sigh, smiling slightly now as the companions turned to him, bewildered. He gave them a small nod. "His name is Beorn. He is a skin-changer."
"A skin-changer?" Bilbo repeated, utterly confused and with his small sword held limply in his hand. He was not sure what he had thought it would do against a huge beast such as this. "Like a furrier?"
Gandalf huffed. "No, Bilbo, nothing like a furrier! And I don't suggest you let him hear such a thing. Sometimes he is a huge black bear. Sometimes he is a great strong man. The bear is unpredictable, but the man… the man can be reasoned with."
"You think you can reason with him? Convince him to let us stay?" Fili asked, the doubt clear in his voice. He was stood near the wizard, still breathing heavily from the effort of getting the door shut.
"I shall try," Gandalf muttered, sending the young prince a short look. He cleared his throat. "However, he is not overfond of dwarves."
The blond dwarf heard someone snort quietly beside him at the wizard's words and turned his head to see Arinna standing there. She caught his gaze as he looked at her, sending him a pointed look that clearly said that she could empathise with Beorn on that particular point. Fili's eyes narrowed before he turned away from her, his gaze turning to Gandalf as the wizard continued.
"Alright now… Get some sleep, all of you. We'll be safe here tonight."
The company fanned out further into the house, trying to find a comfortable place to settle down for the night. Arinna walked slowly along the large furniture that adorned Beorn's place, through the living room and into the kitchen, taking in her surroundings. Beorn's house was furnished with simple things, yet it felt warm and cosy. She turned through another door to the right and found an attached stable, where a few ponies and goats were sleeping peacefully and great piles of hay were gathered. The druid decided on one of the free piles, taking off her cloak and putting it down on it before she sat down and made herself comfortable. It wasn't long until other members of the company had found the place, as well, deciding that hay would be better to sleep on than the wooden floor of the rest of the house.
"Mind if I join you?" Bofur asked as he came to a halt in front of her and Arinna quickly shook her head, seeing that the rest of the hay piles had by now been occupied. "Thanks very much, lass."
Bofur set down his things, letting himself plop down into the hay beside her. He wriggled around for a moment, getting into a more comfortable position while Arinna lay down herself, letting out a deep sigh as she stared at the ceiling. She felt exhausted but her mind was still too active for her to drift off to sleep immediately.
"Lass," Bofur suddenly whispered and the druid turned her head, looking at the dwarf questioningly through the darkness. He sent her a kind smile, adjusting the position of his hat as he lay there. He continued quietly, making sure that she was the only one who heard. "Is everything alright with you? I hope you don't mind me asking, but I've noticed you've hardly spoken a word to anybody since yesterday… and your smile seems to have disappeared entirely."
Arinna stared at the dwarf for a moment, unsure of what to say. She hadn't thought that her bad mood would be so obvious, or indeed, that any of the dwarves would care to ask her about it. They were in enough trouble as it was, she didn't think that any of them would have even noticed her current state of mind or deemed it relevant. But she could see that Bofur meant well and that he did care. He truly wanted to know what affected her and if he could help her in any way.
"Yes, Bofur, I'm alright," she sighed, whispering her answer back at him. He looked at her attentively, causing her to continue hesitantly. "It's just… Fili. We're currently not seeing eye to eye. But I'm sure it'll pass. No need to worry yourself over me, Bofur."
Bofur gave a tiny nod, studying her face in the darkness, knowing that she had just added the last bit because she didn't want to talk about it. But he could tell that whatever it was that she was not seeing eye to eye with Fili on was bothering her quite a bit. And indeed, now that he thought about it, the blond prince had been in a foul mood for the past day, as well. Bofur had seen him talk to Kili a few times but he hadn't exchanged a lot of words with any of the rest of them. If Bofur hadn't known better, he'd have thought the two of them had had a lovers' spat. He paused slightly at the thought, his eyes taking in Arinna's expression again.
"Well, if you say so," he finally agreed nevertheless, smiling amiably at her again, as he kept his thoughts to himself. He did not want to pester her. "Sleep well, Arinna."
She gave him a small smile in return, though Bofur noticed that it did not reach her eyes, before she turned away and closed her eyes with a sigh. "Sleep well, Bofur."
Fili was shaken awake the next morning by his brother, waking from a strange dream with a start. Fili struggled to remember it at all, the images escaping him as he tried to keep hold of them. He remembered there being a large throne, standing deserted in a dark hall. He looked up at Kili with a sigh, who was nudging him with a mixture of excitement and worry on his face.
"What is it?"
"The skin-changer is here," the brunet said, nodding vaguely to the side. Fili assumed that he meant outside of the house. "Gandalf has called us all to the kitchen. He wants a word before he goes to talk to him."
The blond dwarf nodded slowly as he got up, brushing some stray straws of hay off his clothes. His gaze wandered over the companions gathered in the stable, his gaze almost immediately falling on the druid lying still asleep with her head leaning lightly against Bofur's shoulder, while the dwarf was snoring rather loudly beside her, his hat pulled down over his face. Fili didn't have time to really register the small sting he felt somewhere inside him at the sight before Nori walked over to them and kicked Bofur in the leg, succeeding in waking both of them up as Bofur jerked awake and Arinna rose from her slumber at his sudden movements at the same time.
Fili turned away then, following his little brother to the kitchen, where the rest of the company was already gathered around Gandalf. The door to the outside stood open and the blond dwarf could hear the sounds of someone chopping wood outside. He didn't look up when Arinna and Bofur and the rest of the company entered the kitchen, instead listening attentively as Gandalf explained to them how they should approach Beorn. That he was easily spooked and possibly aggressive when taken by surprise, and so the wizard would go out first with Bilbo to talk to him. The dwarves and druid were to wait for his signal before they came out and once they did, they should only come out in pairs. Except for Bombur, who counted as two.
They waited impatiently in the kitchen after the wizard had gone out, trying to hear what Gandalf and Beorn were saying to each other, relying on Bofur, who was peeking out the kitchen window, to tell them when Gandalf gave the first sign. He soon did, much sooner than Fili expected, but Dwalin and Balin walked out anyway, announcing themselves to the skin-changer cheerfully. He could hear Beorn's voice rise outside, clearly not too happy to see the two dwarves in his garden. But the line was moving now as Bofur gave another wave and Oin and Gloin walked out next, causing the skin-changer's voice to grow even louder.
Fili joined the others outside a few moments later with Kili by his side, eyes widening as he saw the skin-changer for the first time. He was taller than any man he'd ever seen, taller even than Gandalf, hairy, muscular and angry-looking. He quickly nudged Kili in the side, reminding his brother to bow with him as the younger dwarf just stared in amazement.
"Ah, Fili and Kili," Gandalf stuttered, trying and failing to keep hold of the situation. "I'd quite forgotten."
It was then that the rest of the company suddenly stumbled outside all at once, Bofur almost tripping and falling down the set of stairs that led to the kitchen.
"And have you forgotten all of these dwarves, as well?" The skin-changer growled angrily, staring daggers at the wizard who cleared his throat awkwardly.
"Oh no, these are Nori, Bofur, Bifur and Bombur," Gandalf introduced as he shot a glance over his shoulder, looking back at Beorn with a sheepish smile. He did not seem as though he was going to attack them but he certainly wasn't happy at the company invading his house and backyard.
"Is that it then? Or are there more dwarves hiding in my halls?" The skin-changer asked gruffly, looking up sharply as he saw another two figures emerge from his kitchen. The first was a small woman with a mane of black hair and bright green eyes, whom he did not think to be a dwarf, and the second was yet another dwarf still.
"Arinna and Thorin," Gandalf introduced quickly, nodding at him. "The last of our company."
"A wizard, a Halfling, thirteen dwarves and a woman," Beorn growled after a moment's consideration, looking over the group darkly before he continued, finally lowering the axe that he had been chopping wood with. "Sounds like either the start of a bad joke or that of an interesting story. Which is it, Gandalf the Grey?"
"Oh, the latter," the wizard smiled and Beorn nodded for them to follow him back into the house. "Yes, definitely the latter."
A little while later, Fili found himself sitting at Beorn's massive kitchen table, while the skin-changer was handing out food and drink to them, which they took gratefully. Fili just listened as Gandalf retold the story of what they had been through so far to Beorn, who nodded along silently, but with interest in his eyes, every now and again. When the wizard had ended, a long silence hung over the room before Beorn's gaze settled on Thorin. He said nothing for a long time, the company slowly growing uncertain, until he finally spoke.
"I do not like dwarves," he said darkly, looking at the dwarf-king intently. "They're greedy and blind. Blind to the lives of those they deem lesser than their own."
Thorin didn't reply, and Beorn didn't seem to expect him to, his gaze drifting from him to another member of the company. He looked at Bilbo for a long time, who swallowed tightly beneath his dark gaze, then at Arinna and finally back at Gandalf.
"Yet I would not expect a group of dwarves to seek the council of others such as yourselves," he continued in a low rumble, beginning to nod slowly. "Gentle folk. Which means that, perhaps, Thorin Oakenshield, is not as ignorant as the rest of his kin. Do not take this to mean that I like you or that I care to have you in my home… I do not like dwarves, but orcs I hate more. So, I will help you. You are welcome to stay for a few days, to regain your strength and replenish your supplies. The orcs will not dare attack my lands. I will give you some of my ponies for your journey to Mirkwood once you are ready to leave."
Thorin felt a weight lift from his shoulders as he inclined his head in thanks, the skin-changer's harsh words still echoing in his mind, though he did not reply to any of them. Even if the man did not like him or his kin, it was enough for Thorin that he was agreeing to help them.
"We are in your debt," the dwarf-king said, looking up at the large man sincerely. But Beorn just let out a grunt, slamming his mug of milk on the table.
"I do not need anything from you," growled the skin-changer dismissively, causing the dwarf to incline his head again. "Nor do I want anything."
"Nevertheless, you have my word," Thorin spoke, as honour demanded of him, looking at the man before him with determination. "Should you ever want or need repayment for your help in any way, I will be at your service."
The two stared at each other for a long moment before Beorn gave a short nod, accepting the dwarf's words.
