As it was still dark, we were granted a few hours of sleep and rest; we were to climb down at first light. It was not as difficult a task as I had imagined, the tree had plenty of nooks and branches to ease our descent and the height did not bother me as much as it ought to. We crept down altogether quite nimbly, although Bombur did make a few branches creak a little more than I would have liked them to have. Bilbo struggled a little, being so high up; Hobbits were not naturally predisposed to heights, many would refuse lodgings on the second floor of an inn, they would maintain that it is safer to sleep on the ground than in the sky.
I had no idea of where we could be, yet Gandalf assembled us calmly and even Thorin waited for his instruction. "We are very near indeed to the Carrock," He explained, "It is the home of a very special someone, an old friend of mine."
Something about the way that Gandalf had avoided saying the name or even the race of this person worried me, it was like to be someone whom Thorin would not take to. I just hoped it was not more Elves; I do not think the leader would withstand any more encounters with such creatures.
Evidently the Dwarf in question had the very same worry. "Who is this friend of yours, Wizard?" He inquired cautiously.
Gandalf smiled serenely, far too accustomed to Thorin's distrust. "He is someone whom you would do well to remember your courtesies around, especially now we are in his territory." He warned gently.
"Bu- but he will help us. Won't he?" Bilbo interjected nervously.
"He might," Gandalf answered somewhat uncertainly. "Look," He pointed off into the distance, "There is his house."
Indeed, there it was. It was a quaint thing, surrounded by tall hedges apart from where an iron archway formed an entrance. Inside could be seen numerous bee hives, a glorious garden brimming with flowers and a large wooden cabin; it was too vast to house Hobbits or Dwarves, it even looked a little on the roomy side for someone as tall as Gandalf to live in.
As we got closer, Gandalf's eyebrows slithered closer together. Whoever we were to meet, I took it that they were not to be crossed. Before we had got to the gate, the wizard brought us to a halt. "My friend," he began, "Is not a great lover of Dwarves." Gandalf warned. "But I think if I introduce you all slowly he will be appeased."
He swiftly separated us into groups of two or three, "Bilbo, Veyra you both shall come first with me; my friend has no quarrel with Hobbit kind. Thorin shall come too as a show of good faith." The wizard ushered us before him and through the iron archway, the inside of the garden was filled with the scent of honey and roses mixed with earth and firewood.
The cabin door was easily twice the height of myself and even larger in comparison to Bilbo, it was painted a rust red. The entire cabin seemed to be adorned with scratches, dangerous looking scratches; claw markings even. Whoever lived here seemed used to attack. The wizard raised his staff and rapped three times firmly upon the wooden entrance.
Thunderous steps boomed their way to the threshold and the door was pulled back by a strength that seemed to almost pull it from its hinges. The opening revealed a gigantic, hair ridden man with the thickest black beard I had ever seen. His arms were knotted with muscle and layered with even more hair; it was as though he were some kind of animal, the amount of fur he seemed to have. The man towered over us, nearly as tall as the door frame, he almost had to stoop to make sure he cleared the beams.
"Gandalf!" He growled in a strange accent I had not heard before; it was exotic and rugged and somewhat wild. "And to what do I owe this pleasure?" The man questions, his brows knitted together in distrust.
"My friend, Beorn!" Gandalf greeted, "My friends and I were merely passing by and thought we would call in," The wizard explained.
Beorn tilted his head quizzically, "And these are your friends?"
"Yes," The wizard confirmed, "This is my dear friend Bilbo of the Shire and his cousin Veyra; with them is Thorin, son of Thrain, son of Thror. There are but one or two more on their way."
Beorn assessed this and assessed us, "Very well, come in and do tell me of your business; it is not often anyone comes to visit these parts simply on a whim."
"You are quite right," Gandalf chuckled.
Beorn stepped backward to allow us entry, leaving the door open for the others to get in by. He lead us through to his dining area, a long oak table surrounded by upturned barrels which served as stools; some of them even wore cushioned hats for comfort, I selected one of those knowing we would be sat here for a good while. Strange horses, alight with unnatural intelligence, brought in mugs of strong tea on a tray rested upon their backs. Internally I could not help but wonder how they had gotten the mugs and trays there in the first place. Their balance was better than any I had seen before; they did not spill a drop the entire time.
"Our business is a quest of my friend Thorin's, he wishes to find his home, but we have had one or two troubles along the way." Gandalf began.
Beorn scratched his substantial beard, "It is long since I have heard tales of any such adventures, I take it you are to be Thorin of the Lonely Mountain?" He directed at the Dwarf-leader.
"Aye," Thorin affirmed, not wanting to impart information with this stranger, but remembering Gandalf's warning and not wanting to be rude.
The large man nodded and Gandalf continued, "Our problems began truly when we ran into a trio of Trolls in the Lowlands, they had come down in-"
At that moment two Dwarves made their appearance, bowing and grinning as they had done when they arrived at Bilbo's abode. "Fili," One announced, "And Kili," The same Dwarf informed Beorn indicating his dark-haired brother.
"At your service," Kili greeted winking at me. Together the brothers made one final sweeping bow.
Beorn snickered at their unison, "Please sit, my name is Beorn." He told them. "Please, go on with your story." He instructed the wizard.
Gandalf obliged. "The trolls were most troublesome; they had decided to take two, and eventually, four of our ponies." Beorn seemed amused and outraged by this. "My friend Bilbo here attempted to get them back by- Oh here are a couple more of my friends!"
"You said there were but one or two more on their way!" Beorn quizzed.
Gandalf smiled pleasantly, "There are only a few more." He assured.
"Balin," The white bearded one said, swinging in a low bow.
"And Dwalin," The other proclaimed, bowing lower and longer than his brother in an effort to outdo his accomplice.
"At your service," The Dwarves finished together.
Beorn grumbled, "Yes, yes, and I am Beorn at yours now sit down and listen."
"Now, young Bilbo and his accomplices were soon caught hold of by the Trolls whom spent a good deal of time arguing amongst themselves about the best ways of eating Hobbits and Dwarves; they would fry them, roast them, put them in a pie, or simply sit on them and turn them into jelly" Gandalf allowed for Beorn's hearty laugh. "Luckily, my friend Bilbo had the idea to- Ah here are a few more!"
Three more Dwarves entered, bowing and declaring their names. Bofur, Bifur and Bombur hastened to take seats as the host barked for hush, irritated by the interruption.
"This is surely all of them by now, wizard?" Beorn grunted.
"Ah, there is but some more to come," The wizard clarified vaguely.
As Gandalf's account went on, more Dwarves came in and with each interruption, Beorn grew fiercer and yet he also became even more interested in the tale, a great anticipation blooming within him. Gandalf truly was very clever to have devised such a way to gain entry for all of these Dwarves. Beorn seemed especially impressed when told of the Slaughter of the Goblin King.
"Ah, a wonderful story you do tell, Gandalf!" He exclaimed when the adventure had been recounted in full at last, "Such a tale deserves a reward and the hour grows late; I shall allow you to stay for the night, you shall be well-taken care of, I assure you. Though I have no love of Dwarves, I do hate Orcs more and what better way to displease the Orc-kind than to provide for their King-slayers?" He let out another rumble of mirth.
Gandalf beamed, "That would be greatly appreciated, my friend."
"I hope that this fifteen is the entirety of the 'friends' you wish me to meet?" Beorn asked.
The wizard nodded, "Indeed, these are all the Company of Thorin Oakenshield."
Beorn bobbed his head approvingly, "Very well, you shall all have your supper shortly." He gestured to the animals about his home and they each took up a task or chore elsewhere in the cabin, "I will be leaving before then, and I must warn you not to venture outside my home this night. It could be dangerous for you all." He warned, striding from the room followed by Gandalf to the drawing room where they conversed in low voices, discussing things not meant for our ears.
"So what do you think he is?" Fili whispered on my right.
I considered his appearance, "I'm not too sure, if it were not for him being so tall and the strange furriness, I would have said the race of Men."
Kili snickered. "I think he must be some sort of Skin-changer."
"They do not truly exist, do they?" I asked, they had always been a myth about the Shire.
Kili shrugged, "Who knows?" A dangerous glint crept into his eyes, "Maybe he's a terrifying monster!" He smirked.
"Not likely," I deadpanned to a snigger from Fili. "Besides, he is giving us food, how bad can he really be?"
Fili shrugged, "At least we're safer in here for the night than we would have been out there. I hope Thorin persuades our host to supply us when we leave too."
"He will," Kili assured with all confidence in his uncle. I was sure he would too; no matter the Dwarf-leader's other downfalls, he would make sure his men were taken care of whenever he could. As much as I hated to admit it, I admired him for that.
Beorn left without a word and supper came, escorted by the curious creatures that had serviced us earlier, none of them dropping a single thing despite them having hooves and not hands. There were brought whole roasts of meat: beef, pork and chicken; entire crops of vegetables, some of which I had never seen before in my life; there were trifles, strawberries, cakes and tarts aplenty. The drinks were flowing well with selections of strong ales, sweet wines and fiery whiskeys. To follow all of this were wheels of cheese and stacks of different types of biscuits, which were almost as tall as I sat.
"So, Gandalf," Balin started the conversation between mouthfuls, "What exactly is our host? I do not believe I have ever seen his likeness."
All other conversation ceased and silence fell upon the table, evidently everyone else had been wondering the same thing; all eyes lay on the wizard. "Indeed," He mused. "You will not have seen his like, for he is a Skin-changer, a Shape-shifter."
Thorin cleared his throat, "I had thought them not to exist,"
Skin-changers were once abundant, or so the Legends assured, but that was back in the First Age. I had not thought they would still be among us, especially with no word of them in the Second Age and the Third Age, thus far at least.
"Alas, my friend is the very last of his kind; he has as much reason to hate Orcs as you do." The wizard explained. "At times he appears as a great, strong man and at others a great, black bear."
Personally, I would not trifle with either. I suppose the man could be reasoned with; the bear, not so much – though I hope I have not the misfortune to cross either.
"Told you he was a monster," Kili snickered under his breath.
Gandalf tittered, "Not a monster, my dear Kili, but it is wise to respect him as someone who would be dangerous in a disagreement." Gandalf warned.
"He is giving us food and somewhere to stay, I will not disagree with him! As long as I am fed he could tell me the sky is purple and I will tell him he is right!" I joked.
The wizard chuckled, "The rest of you will do very well to follow Veyra's example." Though on the surface it was a joke, I could tell that the old man hoped the rest of them would do as I did and keep their heads down. For the good of us all.
We finished the food in comfortable silence, each of us eating more than we really should have after being starved as we were, though even Gandalf had not the heart to tell us to restrain ourselves. Once done, we retired to the area of the hall in which our host had laid out fifteen blankets and pillows. I had never known anyone to keep so many spare blankets, I would never think to – yet again, before this quest, I was very unlikely to get one visitor, let alone fifteen.
The blankets were spun of a soft wool and even the floor was not too uncomfortable. I fell into the routine of settling myself in my blanket between Fili and Kili, it was the best place to find a bit of humour and cheer after all.
"I wonder what kind of bear he transforms into," Fili mused.
"Certainly not a teddy bear." Kili sniggered, a sleepy, lopsided grin resting upon his face.
Fili reached over me to swat his brother, "No!" He complained, "I mean to say is he a brown bear or a grizzly? Is his fur neat or matted? That sort of thing."
"Well his beard was brown, so probably a brown bear, and it was even more untidy than yours, Fili" I answered, "So perhaps-"
I never finished the sentence as Fili had landed a swift prod to my ticklish side, causing me to cry out in shock.
Kili grinned, "Oh no, Vey is ticklish!" He wailed in mock horror. "Do you know what that means, Fili?" The blond brother smirked in an expression mirroring Kili's playfulness.
I knew that glint that housed itself in Kili's chocolate depths. "No!" I asserted. "If you do what I think you're planning to do, I swear to the Valar I will kill-"
Needless to say, they did as they had planned. I was tickled by both brothers in an assault that left me breathless and aching but not entirely from the tickling sensation. Kili's hands on my sides had a remarkable effect, I do not think I even noticed when Fili stopped and left us. Suddenly all I could take not of was the dark haired Dwarf beside me. He ceased, but his hands did not move from my sides. Neither of us moved, how could I when he was staring at me with such a heated intensity? Not that I even wanted to, I would happily stay like this until the end of time.
"Veyra!" A stern voice cut in, Kili leapt away as though burnt and blushed like a child caught doing something they should not be doing. "A word." Thorin barked, striding away without even looking to see if I would follow.
"Sorry," I mumbled to Kili as I got up to converse with the leader, though I was not really sure about what exactly I was apologising for or even if I had any reason to. I did not hear his answer, if there was one at all.
The Dwarf king finally halted by the great entrance, turning to scrutinise me intensely. I was more than a little uncomfortable under such close examination, but I held my chin up and met his glare in stony silence. It probably not as long as it seemed to me before someone spoke, but then again; it cannot possibly have been the eternity that it had felt like.
"What are your intentions?" He hissed harshly, arms folded across his chest in expectation.
"Wh-w-what?" I spluttered, taken aback by the question that I did not entirely understand, though a part of me knew I was deliberately refusing to understand it.
Thorin sighed heavily, "You know of what I speak." He spat. "I wish to know of your intentions with my nephew."
"Which one?" I hedged, trying to stifle a blush.
"Kili." The Dwarf seethed, evidently losing his patience in my playing dumb.
There was no way to stop the blood rushing to my face now, I looked down at the floor, my hair shielding my face. "I- I would never hurt him, I-"
"Girl, do not test me." He growled. "You care about him, do you not?"
I glanced up at the now somewhat softened Dwarf, "Of course I do." I answered, baffled by the leader's direction of thought.
Thorin nodded, "And you have a certain… affection for him, I presume?"
I stuttered a few times, failing to formulate words, I bobbed my head in admittance. Of course I did; the dark haired brother had been nothing but kind and gentle with me since our first meeting, not to mention that he was incredibly good-looking. Not that I would verbalise any of this to the Dwarf in question's uncle. How in Middle-earth Thorin had come to this conclusion that I was… interested in his nephew, I had no clue – I had thought I had been discrete with my feelings. Apparently not.
"Then I take it you do not want him put in any danger," Thorin continued.
I sighed, "I do not want him hurt,"
"Then you will promise me that you will prevent him from doing anything reckless in regards to protecting you."
"I will, of course I will." I replied, confused. "I would do anything in my power to see that he is safe." I pledged.
Thorin seemed the slightest bit pleased, though that soon washed away into his usual frozen countenance. "Good. That is all." He said, dismissing me.
I had expected to be told to keep away from him, or to make sure Kili does not find out and instead I was being told to protect him; I would have done that anyway.
I stumbled back to my blanket where Fili and Kili were both pretending that they had not been doing their best to eavesdrop. I decided it would be best not to ask what, if anything, they had overheard; it would only be all the more embarrassing if they had heard nothing and I then had to explain. I would never hear the end of it from Fili and I am not too sure how the younger brother would feel about the discussion.
The two of them welcomed me back and we resumed our banter as though nothing had happened and there had been no interruption. Before long, however, night was falling and Thorin was doing the rounds to ensure that everyone was quietening down and getting ready to sleep. The pillow and blanket were particularly inviting as my eyelids began to droop, I rolled onto my side and said my goodnights to the brothers, slinking into a dream sooner than I would have thought.
Sadly my dreams were filled with a faceless shadow calling my name, yet this time I was not with my mother in the Old Forest of the Shire; I was in a wood I did not know, but at least the trees were still. After searching for the shadow for what seemed like hours, I emerged at the side of a vast lake, but there was something odd about it a sound that did not belong to what I could see.
When I woke, it was still pitch black, but a sound had awakened me; faint and eerie. There it was again! A scratching and scuffling. I waited a few moments for my eyes to become more adjusted to the limited light. I soon realised I was not the only one awake.
"Bad dreams again?" Kili whispered.
"Yes," I admitted. A bout of scratching caused me to sit up and stiffen, "That woke me though," I breathed.
Kili shuffled closer to my side. "Do not worry, it's been going on for a while now. From the sounds of it, whatever is out there cannot get inside." He assured, smiling down at me.
"What do you think it is?" I asked with a yawn.
Kili shrugged, "Could be Beorn in his bear skin, but it sounds like more than one of them." He was right; it sounded like three or four. "Was it the same one?" He questioned, referring to my dream and changing the subject.
"No," I frowned, "It was not exactly a frightening dream… just confusing and unnerving." I told him what had happened.
Kili's brown huddled together, "I wonder what it could mean." He pondered aloud.
"I wish I knew," I huffed tiredly.
"Hey," He cooed, pulling me into him and placing an arm about my shoulders, "We'll figure it out together, do not fear, Vey."
I simply nodded, resting my head upon him.
He lifted my chin with a gentle hand, bringing my gaze to meet with his and holding it there even though my natural reaction was to blush furiously and turn away. "I swear you I will help you figure this out." He promised, "I hate seeing you so troubled." That look was back in his eyes, the burning intensity from before his uncle had dragged me away, but this time there was something else there too; uncertainty.
Kili brought his face to mine and, without hesitation, softly placed his lips to my own. With the firm, yet unsure pressure of his mouth on mine all thought of anything other than the feel and scent of him drained from my mind. I leaned in closer and increased the contact, deepening the kiss. My hand wound its way around Kili's neck without my permission. Whatever it was outside had been utterly forgotten and I could not care less should they barge in right this minute so long as they did not disturb us too much.
All too soon there came a need to break apart, but only so as to resume that old troublesome habit of breathing. By this point both his palms cupped my face, whilst mine were lost to that labyrinth of russet locks. My breaths came in ragged gasps that matched his own sharp inhalations, despite the lack of oxygen I could do nothing but beam at him.
Kili stroked my face before bringing me to lay beside him, ever the gentleman he was he pulled my blanket firmly about me and cuddled me into his side. Once more I fell to sleep, and yet this time there were no worrying dreams only him.
I woke for the second time with Kili timidly shaking me awake, he appeared to have been forced into it by the reluctant grimace upon his visage. I soon found out why he was made to do so; Bilbo had been fretting that the others would eat all of the food mysteriously left out for our breakfast.
"Sorry, Vey," He apologised, "I do not think I could have saved you some myself and Bilbo did not trust the others to do so."
It was true, Kili would never have been able to move without waking me; I was laid with my head across his chest and my arms about his neck, it must have been awfully uncomfortable for him and yet the grin on his face told me he did not care.
I mumbled something incoherent in my half-sleeping state.
"Come on, sleepy," He chuckled, "You sit down, I'll sort you some breakfast."
As we entered the dining hall hand in hand and Kili led me to a chair, I could feel all eyes upon us; even though they feigned disinterest. They quit that right away, however, when Kili placed a carefree kiss upon my forehead before he went in search of food for us. Ori openly gawked and Bombur's mouth hung agape, meanwhile Bofur gave me a knowing wink and Fili came to sit beside me.
"Sleep well?" The blond asked in his usual mocking manner, waggling his eyebrows suggestively, his moustache braids swinging merrily.
I blushed, "I slept alright, thank you." I replied innocently.
"It looked to me like you slept more than just 'alright'…" He pressed.
So he had seen, as I knew he would have and knowing the brother's inability to keep any of Kili's doings a secret, he had obviously informed everyone else. Though, from their reaction to the forehead kiss, they did not know of the actual kiss. I do not think I wanted to keep it private, but I definitely do not wish to have everyone staring at me the way they were now and it only intensified when Kili returned with our plates. Kili, however, seemed completely unaware of any unwanted attention and carried on with his jokes and laughter as though us being… whatever we were was already an established thing.
Luckily Gandalf re-entered the cabin and took all of the attention away from us. He had gone outside alone to investigate the activities of the night. "There must have been a regular bears' meeting outside here last night." He announced.
"And what would you call ordinary?" Fili asked curiously.
"I should say there were little bears, large bears, ordinary bears, and gigantic big bears, all dancing outside from dark to nearly dawn."
"Dancing?" I blurted, "I have never heard of any meeting where the participants dance to discuss issues."
"Ah, that is the way of the bears of these parts, young Veyra. " Gandalf informed me kindly.
Thorin cleared his throat, "What this meeting might have been about, might I ask?"
"You, of course," Gandalf replied.
"Me?" Thorin spluttered indignantly.
The wizard waved his arm calmly. "You and your quest. Beorn and his friends were debating whether or not your story was plausible by all evidence I could find." Gandalf explained. "I do believe it is our hosts tracks you can observe heading to the Misty Mountains."
"So he is a Goblin friend?" Nori questioned uncertainly.
"No, you fool!" Gandalf hissed, "Did you not listen when he told you of his hatred of Orc-kind?"
Nori muttered an apology and gazed forlorn into his porridge as the wizard continued.
"I believe our host should be back no later than the morning of the morrow, until then I suggest we all rest whilst we can and enjoy the ability to be comfortable; I fear we shall not have this luxury for a long time." Gandalf sounded both grave and cheery at the same time, an odd combination.
"So what would you like to do today?" I asked Kili, whose hand had crept to the small of my back.
Kili thought for a moment, "I think it would be a good time to talk about certain things." He replied ominously, "Alone." He looked pointedly to Fili.
"Okay," I agreed warily as he led me up a flight of stairs to the secluded hall above. I was terrified, was he about to tell me that last night was a mistake? I really hoped not, especially after the scene at breakfast and my conversation with Thorin.
He sat down and pulled me into his lap. Maybe he did not regret last night after all. Kili folded his arms around me and rested his head on my shoulder, neither of us spoke for a long moment.
I could not take the suspense, "Is everything okay, Kee?"
On my cheek I could feel the corner of his lips quirk upward, "Of course," He enthused, "Everything is perfect."
I smiled bemusedly, "You said we needed to talk though?"
"We do," He sighed, "I need to tell you a few things and ask a few other things."
"Then, go ahead, Kee." I encouraged.
He seemed to struggle a while to find words to verbalise his thoughts. "Well, as you may have guessed, I care a great deal about you, I just wondered if you…?" He trailed away.
"Yes," I replied, "I care for you more than I have anyone else." I told him honestly.
I heard his sigh of relief. "I am so happy to hear you say that." He chuckled, exulted. "But there are a few things you need to know before you decide whether or not I am worthy of your courtship."
"Okay," I urged for him to go on. Although I did think how ridiculous it was to me that he should think himself unworthy of me given that he was a prince.
"Firstly; I will never be king. Or at least I shouldn't be; Fili the heir to the throne of Durin." He told me.
"Good," Came my reply. "In my experience, I do not get along so well with kings."
Kili laughed, "It does not bother you?"
"Why should it? I liked you before I even found out you were a prince." I admitted.
He plucked up one of my hands and kissed my knuckles. "Good answer," he snickered. "Secondly, with Fili being in line for the throne, I am the one who is charged with producing an heir when the time comes. If that scares you, I understand."
I was slightly taken aback by that. The talk of children so soon was definitely petrifying. I would have run away screaming were it anyone other than him, but he was the only exception. "Not for a few years?"
"Oh, indeed, it is frowned upon for Dwarves to have children before marriage and early marriage is never encouraged, do not worry." Kili assured me.
That actually sounded desirable; to one day be married to this Dwarf and with little Dwarves running about the place sounded cute. "Is that something we can come back to when the time comes?" I enquired, echoing his words.
"Of course," Kili grinned, "It is merely the rules of Dwarven courtship to tell one's intended what they should expect should they choose to stay with a person." He explained.
"Alright," I agreed, relieved that I would not have to make the decision of children right this moment. "Anything else?"
"Just one more thing," He said, "I do not know the rules of Hobbit courtship, but we Dwarves symbolise it with a small braid in our hair. I only wondered if you would allow me to court you."
I giggled, "Of course, I would, if you would have me."
"I would have you forever and a day." He promised.
He combed his fingers through my hair, ridding it of ay tangles, and took a small section toward the front and began easily twisting it into a simple braid, his fingers flowing like water and tying the end with a piece of string. He looked remarkably pleased with himself once it was done.
Kili took my hands in his, "Now you do the same to me,"
Nervously I removed myself from his lap so as to see his hair better. I carefully unknotted his whole head before selecting a tiny lock to plait, I copied his movements as best I could and for the first time in a long while I had done a good looking braid. He handed me some string to tie it off with, I made sure it would take a lot to remove my knot.
Together, we sat in silence once more, enjoying each other without words nor looks, we simply sat side by side wasting the day away.
Come the next morning, Beorn had returned and he was certainly in good spirits. He had admitted to his disbelief and told us of his trip to the Misty Mountains and how he had howled with joy at the sight of the slaughtered Goblin King.
"My new friends, you should know what else I have discovered on my travels, though it is not good news." Beorn began, "The Orcs are furious at the destruction of their king. They are gathering as large an army as they can muster and they wage war on you, Thorin Oakenshield."
"That is, indeed, ill news." Thorin agreed.
"The only safe pass to Erebor travels through the forest of Mirkwood, though that in itself will be perilous." Our host advised. "The Elven path is still as safe a rout as can be found, but only if you stay to the path. Should you leave it, you will never find it again." He warned. "It is wise also, to avoid the river at all costs; the water will send you into a stupor at best, do not drink from it. And lastly, the animals there are dark and most likely not good to eat."
His warnings basically said that once we entered the forest, we had only what we took with us to eat and drink – hunting was out of the question. Somehow this 'safe' path seemed to me more dangerous by the minute.
"I will provide you all with food and water enough for your passage and my horses will take you as far as the forest edge, but no further. I would not risk them." This man must have really disliked Orcs to go so far in his efforts to help us and, by the sounds of it, we certainly needed as much help as we could get.
Sorry for any errors, I wanted to get this chapter out quickly and forgot to check.
The song is The Only Exception by Paramore.
Basically, I needed to get my OC and Kili together to prepare for events three chapters away from now and this seemed like the only plausible place that it could happen. Sorry to anyone who feels it is a bit rushed.