Chapter 7

From Babbling Brooks to Raging Rivers

Third PoV

A few days had passed since the Company's stop at the cliff and the weather had turned sour. It was now raining hard and had soaked all the dwarves and their ponies. Inari was riding by Bofur as he tried to light his pipe, but it was too wet to stay lit. He just shrugged and put it in his mouth anyway making her laugh at his antics. He just winked in return.

"Here Mr. Gandalf. Can't you do something about this deluge?" Dori asked in annoyance. Gandalf turned slightly towards him with an amused look on his face. "It is raining, master dwarf. And it will continue to rain until the rain is done." He said in a tone as if he was speaking to a petulant child. "If you wish to change the weather of the world, you should find yourselves another wizard."

Bilbo rode up closer with a slight smile on his face. "Are there any?" "What?" He asked. "Other wizards." Gandalf paused for a moment before answering. "There are five of us. The greatest of our order is Saruman the White. Then there are the two blue wizards." He paused again, trying to recall their names. "I've quite forgotten their names." He answered at last. Bilbo nodded seeming unsurprised. "And who is the fifth?"

Gandalf's eyes lit up as he fondly thought of the odd wizard. "That would be Radagast the Brown." Bilbo narrowed his eyes in thought. "Is he a great wizard or is he more like you?" Inari, Fili, and Kili all snorted at Bilbo's unintentional insult. The hobbit blushed but kept his attention on Gandalf. The wizard turns back a bit miffed but answers. "I think he is a very great wizard, in his own way." He turns forward as he continues. "He's a gentle soul who prefers the company of animals over others. He keeps a watchful eye over the vast forest lands to the east. And a good thing too, as evil always looks to find a foot hole in this world." The Company goes quiet and continue their journey through the rain.

*Space*

Inari's PoV

After a week of storms, the rain had finally stopped. I had taken off my rain cloak and was letting my still damp clothes dry. We had set out early today before the sun was even up. We had to stop once we came upon an overflowing river. It probably wouldn't have been a problem before the rains, but now it was a deadly raging river. Thorin and Gandalf were trying to figure out how to cross it right now so we were allowed a small rest. I was sitting next to Fili and Kili. Kili and I had become great friends in the past month. It was weird to have a friend as I had never been close enough to anyone to call them such.

Before I could continue my train of thought, Thorin and Gandalf had figured out a way to cross the river. "All of you make sure everything is on the ponies. We're going to walk through the river leading the ponies." Thorin then turned to Kili. "Kili I need you to shoot us a rope across. We're going to need something to hold on to." Kili nodded before reaching back for his bow and notching an arrow with some rope attached to the fletching. The arrow sunk deep into a tree and was given a strong tug to make sure it was stable. Thorin nodded and then lead his pony into the river keeping a strong grip on the rope.

Everyone then followed his lead, some have to calm their ponies while they walked across. I, Ori, and Bilbo were the last ones to cross. Myrtle and Timber weren't too much trouble walking across, however, Ori's poney, Lily, was extremely nervous under normal circumstances. She was one of the few ponies we had that would spook. A fact we would tease Ori about how a pony's behavior reflects their owner's. Now it was becoming a problem. She whinnying, scuffing and tossing her head. Ori was able to calm her enough to get her walking. However, as we reached the middle, one of Lily's hooves went into a small hole. She immediately reared up making some of the supplies fall off. Bilbo and I were able to stabilize ourselves on the rope, but Ori was not so lucky. He was trying to calm Lily down, but she was getting wilder and soon started to kick around. I quickly handed Timber's rains to Bilbo and trudged through the water to help Ori.

I pulled him away from the thrashing pony before he was trampled. I pushed him closer towards the Company who were able to drag him out. I turned towards Lily and cautiously grabbed her reins. I tried speaking to her calmly, but nothing worked. As I tried to calm her, she reared up unexpectedly. I went to move out the way but lost my footing and my grip on the rope.

No matter how hard I tried I couldn't keep my head above the water for long before I was dragged underneath where I was scraped by rocks and sticks. The current was pulling further and further away from the company, their shouts now barely audible. I was dragged under the surface once more. I kicked and pushed my arms. but the current was too strong. I eventually stopped fighting, now exhausted. My lungs were burning and I was becoming more light headed by the second. Is this how I die? Am I truly never to see my father and siblings again? I couldn't help but think that I had let them down. I'm so sorry adad. I just wasn't strong enough. The edge of my vision was beginning to go dark and my lungs felt like they were about to burst.

I then heard something but hit the water. I tried to look but I was just too weak the last thing I saw was a big dark wolf swimming towards me. Then my world went black.

*Space*

I could myself coming back to consciousness slowly. First was my hearing. I could hear the sound of flowing water as well as the sounds of the nightlife waking up. The air was crisp but felt like ice against my damp clothes. I was finally able to open my eyes after a few minutes. I turned my head looking around at my surroundings. After a few minutes, I was able to sit up against a nearby tree. My head was throbbing and my whole body felt sore. "What happened?" I asked myself trying to remember, but my mind was still muddled. I then heard a sharp crack in front of me. I bolt up to my feet at the noise but immediately regretted it as my head sent a painful throb at the quick motion. I looked up and saw a large wolf standing in front of me.

He was as big as a horse and had dark brown fur. His eyes were a bright gold that glowed in the evening dimness. At first, I felt threatened and grabbed a stick that was on the ground before getting in a defensive position. The wolf whimpered and laid on his belly. I tightened my hold on the stick at the animal's actions. After a few minutes of us staring, the wolf slowly rose up making me tense up once more. He slowly walked towards a bush his eyes never leaving mine. He then stuck his head into the bush. I thought about making a break for it, but before I could even turn around, the wolf's head came out from the bush with a rabbit in its mouth.

He crawled slowly towards me all the while making himself look as non-threatening as possible. Once he was only a few feet away he stopped and dropped the rabbit. He then turned his head to look at me giving me an expectant look. At this point I had lowered the stick, the wolf didn't seem like he was going to attack, but I still kept my guard up. After a few minutes of staring the wolf barked impatiently and nudging the rabbit closer. I narrowed my eyes at this. "Is that for me?" Can't believe I'm talking to the wolf. The wolf nodded. Which was weird as it was such a human gesture.

"Oh, Thank you," I said slightly confused. There a lot of wolves in the north and I have had encountered them a couple of times and they never acted like this. Granted they were normal sized while has this one looks big enough to eat a horde of goblins. I put down the stick and cautiously picked up the rabbit. The wolf didn't move instead of opting to watch as I took its kill and began to skin it. By the time I had finished skinning it and made a fire it was completely dark. As I prepared my meal I made sure to keep an eye on the wolf. It was lying down about five feet away and had its golden eyed glaze following my every movement. It was a bit unsettling as it was such a human thing for an animal to do.

As I waited for the rabbit to cook and turned to look at the wolf. He was still staring. "Has anyone ever told you it's rude to stare." I snipped completely unnerved by his staring. The wolf huffed giving me an unimpressed look. I narrowed my eyes in confusion. "What are you?" I couldn't help but ask. The wolf only lowered its head onto his paws. I sighed. This whole has just been a mess. I raked my hand through my hair making it messier than it already was. I scanned the clearing trying to take my mind off things when I spotted an unnatural looking lump behind the same bush the wolf hid the rabbit. I got up and walked towards it ignoring my sore muscles.

The wolf raised his head at the motion. Once I was closer I was able to see that the lump was actually a pile of clothes. They were obviously a male's and once I picked up the shirt I could tell it belonged to dwarf by the size. My eye then caught something shiny beneath the clothes. I picked it up and studied the object. It was a dwarven hair clasp with the crest of Durin's Folk. This is Kili's! I jumped up and looked around trying to find any other trace. I then looked at the wolf that was now standing looking anxious. Looking at him stirred up a barrage of memories. I remembered seeing a wolf swimming towards me before I blacked out. The wolf saved me? I then remembered Kili and how his eyes turned to gold on many occasions. The same gold as the wolf! I looked him in the eyes and could see him giving me a concerned look with his now familiar gold eyes.

I edged slowly towards him a look of disbelief and shock on my face. "Kili? Is that you?"

A/N

Well, there you have it folks we now know the Durin's mysterious secret. Next chapter you'll get a bit more background and history about everything. So what did ya'll think? Let me know your reaction to this chapter in the reviews. Thank you, everyone, for reading this story.

This is ArcherWriter signing off.