Hello, dear readers! :D

First of all, a short message: There will be no new chapters after today until the next weekend because I'm going to Barcelona for a short holiday! Yaay!

But, since I'm so happy that you are enjoying this story, there will be two chapters for you today as a little compensation :D

IceheartsChill: Weew, Amaroks! :D Well, there are a few things about Thranduil's companion (don't call them pets, they don't like that xD) but that's a story to be told another time :D And yeeahh, I'm not a fan of Thrandy, either, the little moose-diva.

Fangirlatyourservice: Haha, I love your theories, but I gotta say nope to all three of them, even though they would be very interesting, too :D

Thank you all so much for your reviews and favs and follows! Gnah, that's really motivating! :D

Tarya waited patiently until all the dwarves had packed up and untied their ponies from the trees to saddle them.

Gandalf stood beside her while she watched Kili mount his pony. She didn't know why he had told the dwarfs that he didn't know what she was afraid of. She had told him all she had seen. Or rather, she had shown him. Let him see it. It seemed a bit strange that he would withhold that information but he surely had his reasons to do so.

He was a wizard, after all. They knew what they were doing. And maybe he really didn't know what it had been just as she didn't know, either.

"Well," Gandalf said and looked down at her smilingly. "I am glad you decided to accompany us. I am sure I will find more information about this… shadow that you saw once we arrive in Rivendell." His voice was hushed as if he didn't want anyone else to hear what he was saying to her. She didn't know why he did this but she didn't really care about it, either.

She simply grumbled lightly as an answer and then walked over to Kili who smiled at her when he saw her approaching. His pony wasn't as pleased as its rider and neighed agitatedly, then shifted when she came close to it but she tried to give it a friendly look to calm it down. It worked more or less but probably more because Kili gave it a reassuring pat on the neck and hold the reigns a bit tighter.
The dwarf looked down on her, the friendly smile still playing around the corners of his mouth. This dwarf certainly did smile a lot, she thought.

"Well, then, Tarya" he said and she quite liked that he was using her name now. "This could be the start of an interesting friendship."

She couldn't help but grin at his statement for he was right, so she started panting again and made a slight movement with one of her ears, which made him laugh quietly.

She just followed the company then as they started riding, mostly trotting along next to Kili at the beginning. Of course, they talked about her and exchanged some of the stories they had heard about Amaroks but they all seemed to be all right with her coming along. Maybe it was because they were curious or maybe they just adapted quickly to new situations, she didn't know.

It wasn't as strange to be walking along this company as she initially had thought. They were quite a merry bunch of dwarves – there were only two of them who really seemed to belong to the grumpier or just quieter kind, their names being Thorin and Dwalin – and she enjoyed listening to them talk and joke with each other. And one after another, she came to know their names as they called out to each other from time to time.

She came to be interested in quite a few of them already, as they all seemed to be very different from each other. Never had she actually spent time with a dwarf – or any other race for that matter. She usually didn't venture near their camps and in the two cases in her life that she had, she had been gone again a few minutes later.

This was different.

An Amarok was used to being alone, it was in their nature. It was necessary, because being alone was what protected them.

It had not always been like this, she knew. A long time ago, long before her time, her ancestors had been more open-minded towards people. But the race of the Amarok had to learn the hard way that people were greedy and ruthless.

They had been hunted and captured as people had tried all they could to find a way to access the legendary hidden secrets of the wolves that would grant them the powers they desired. Some thought it was in their blood, others thought that you had to treat them nicely until they would reveal them and kept them in caves and again others were convinced that only wearing the fur of an Amarok would lead them to greatness.

It was madness and it had been a nasty business. Of course, none of those people had found what they had longed for in the end.

Tarya knew all this but she couldn't help but be fascinated by these dwarves, the hobbit and the wizard. It was all so… she couldn't quite pin it down. The way this group interacted seemed very interesting to her for one thing. They were all heavily armed, the only exceptions being a dwarf named Ori and the hobbit, making them the weakest link in the company to her esteem.

The leader of the group was obviously Thorin and she thought that he actually did quite behave like an alpha-wolf. Which was something that she could relate to for obvious reasons. Even though Amarok didn't live in packs, which was because they did not accept the concept of alpha-wolves, really. There were stronger ones and weaker ones but no Amarok would ever be ruled by anyone, not even one of their own.

Mother-wolves only kept their pups with them until they were about two years old. Teaching them everything they had to know to survive during this time. After that, they had to spend their years mostly alone and take care of themselves. They parted ways and usually never saw each other again. Even for an Amarok the sight of another one was rare.

But to be alone could get quite lonely at times, Tarya thought, while she was observing the company she was now travelling with. And since Amarok lived far longer than any usual wolf or animal, time could be a cruel companion.

As for Tarya, she was 68 years old by now.

"It is rather strange…"

Kili looked over to his brother who had murmured something he hadn't quite been able to catch. "Huh?"

"It's funny," Fili repeated, this time a bit louder, "That you would meet a wild wolf in the night, vet it and in the morning you have suddenly befriended a legendary creature."

Kili grinned slightly when Fili chuckled to himself. He was right, it was rather curious. But he didn't mind at all. He had liked Tarya from the beginning even when he hadn't known what exactly she was and he was still convinced that she was the most beautiful wolf he would ever see. She just seemed so… majestic. Majestic and mysterious.

But at the same time, she somehow behaved like a puppy that was exploring the world for the first time. When she had first sniffed at Bilbo, he had been sure she'd never seen a hobbit before. And even now, as they were already riding since a few hours, she was trotting along the company, happily examining everything and everyone that seemed interesting. She ventured from dwarf to dwarf to hobbit to wizard, listening to them while they told stories and jokes.

Often, she could be found walking next to Bilbo who occasionally talked to her just as he did with his pony before she came back and continued on next to the youngest Durin. Actually, she never ventured very far away from him, he realized.

Later that day, the sky darkened even further than the day before and finally, the rain that they had escaped before fell down on them in big drops. Soon they were riding through what could be called a thick never-ending curtain of raindrops. Kili looked down on Tarya as he pulled his hood over his head but she didn't seem to mind the dreadful weather. Well, as a wild animal she was certainly used to any kind of weather, he guessed.

She was the only one not being affected by it, though. The mood of the entire company sank with every drop that hit them.

"Mister Gandalf, can't you do something about this deluge?" Dori asked desperately but the wizard only sent him a short look.

"It is raining, master dwarf." He said, "And it will continue to rain until the rain is done! If you wish to change the weather of the world, you should find yourself another wizard."

"Are there any?" Bilbo spoke up from behind and Gandalf turned to look at him.

"What?"

"Other wizards?" the hobbit clarified as he wiped some rain from his face. The poor guy didn't even have a hood, Kili thought. Gandalf nodded and now most of the dwarfs were listening to their little conversation.

"There are five of us. The greatest of our order is Saruman, The White. Then there are the two blue wizards. Do you know, I've quite forgotten their names." Kili looked over at him, Gandalf seemed to try and remember the names for a second but seemingly failed miserably.

"And who is the fifth?" Bilbo continued curiously.

"Well, that would be Radagast, the Brown." The grey wizard said and to Kili's left Tarya started panting again. He looked down at her questioningly when Bilbo continued.

"And is he a great wizard or is he… more like you?"

Gandalf seemed a little offended by that question but answered nevertheless. "I think he's a very great wizard, in his own way. He's a gentle soul who prefers the company of animals to others. He keeps a watchful eye over the vast forestlands to the East, and a good thing too, for always evil will look to find a foothold in this world." With his last words, he looked over at Tarya shortly but no one noticed, not even herself.

Tarya made a little approving noise and looked up to Kili. "I take it you know that Radagast fellow?" he asked and she made another noise to confirm his statement. Kili nodded. "It seems like there is quite a lot to know about you, Tarya" He hadn't really meant the words to be directed at her but she had heard him through the noise of the rain nonetheless, of course, and grinned at him. Laughingly he shook his head and rode on in silence while the rain was dripping down on them.