A new chapter! Whoop!

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Let me know what you think of the new chapter, I'd really love to read of you guys and now I'll leave you to it :)

Kili couldn't get the images of the last hours out of his head. Over and over, he saw his uncle getting knocked down, Tarya and Bilbo risking their lives, Tarya standing in the midst of the battle, the glow of her eyes. He wondered what that had been. What had caused it? Tarya had seemed so… dangerous, was the only thing he could think of. Dangerous and powerful.

They flew over the peaks of mountains, then, over valleys and rivers until Kili could see the sun rising in the sky, shining bright as if the horrors of the night before never had happened. Kili didn't know how long they had been flying when Fili finally spoke up.

"Do you think he – they – will be all right?" he asked and Kili who was sitting behind him, sighed silently, the thought of either of the two unconscious company members actually dying sending a strong ache through his guts. He couldn't imagine life without Thorin and neither could he without Tarya he realized with some surprise.

"I don't know," he muttered into the wind, so that Fili had to concentrate in order to hear him. "But I very much hope so."

They fell silent then and as their flight carried on, Kili thought about how fast Tarya had gained a place in his heart. If he was honest with himself, he couldn't imagine their journey without her anymore and he didn't even really think about her having been a wolf before Rivendell so much anymore. It was a part of her. She was just Tarya and somehow, he felt that she belonged to their side, his subconscious not quite daring to say his side. It was because they were friends, he told himself. He couldn't imagine her dying. He refused to.

Why was he never able to protect her? At that thought, he felt a twinge of anger rising in within him. He was angry with Tarya. Maybe he would be able to protect her if she wouldn't get herself into danger over and over again, he thought. What had she been thinking when she had run against the Defiler on her own?

Suddenly, he felt the eagle beneath him shift silently in the air and soon, they were heading towards a large cliff where some of the company had already been dropped off. Kili saw Thorin lying motionless on the floor as Gandalf hurried towards him, kneeling down and bending over him. Both brothers felt deep worry rumbling in their guts, seeing their uncle like that. Just then, they arrived on the rock themselves and Fili and Kili jumped off the eagle that had carried them. As Kili quickly walked over to his uncle Fili hesitated a moment before he turned around, inclining his head to the Great Eagle in thanks. The animal mirrored his gesture before it left.

Thorin opened his eyes just as Fili came to stand next to his brother and the rest of the company that had by now been dumped on the cliff.

"The Halfling?" he said with a husky voice, looking at the grey wizard worriedly.

"It's all right," Gandalf smiled, letting out a quiet sigh. "Bilbo is here."

As Kili looked up, he saw the hobbit standing a few feet away, a relieved look on his face.

"He is quite safe," Gandalf said and Thorin struggled to get up. Kili quickly bent down to his uncle's left side while Dwalin did the same to his right, helping the dwarf-king to his feet. Thorin shook off their hands with a huff, once he was standing again. He made a few steps towards the hobbit, Bilbo shrinking beneath the dwarf's stern glare.

"You!" he growled. "What were you doing?! You nearly got yourself killed! Did I not say that you would be a burden? That you would not survive in the wild?" With every word, he took a step closer to the poor hobbit that was now looking as if he'd been hit in the stomach, when he heard Thorin's last words, "That you had no place amongst us?"

Kili saw another eagle approaching in the distance in the corner of his eye but he couldn't pay attention to it. He just wanted to tell his uncle that he was not right saying something like that to Bilbo. The hobbit had saved his life, for Mahal's sake! He exchanged a look with his brother who slightly shook his head at him, although he looked just as displeased as Kili felt.

But then, Thorin's next words surprised every one of them.

"I have never been so wrong," he breathed, taking a final step towards Bilbo and wrapping him in a fierce hug. "In all my life!"

Cheers erupted from the company as they patted each other's backs, relieved and happy smiles on all their faces.

"I'm sorry I doubted you," Thorin mumbled, squeezing the hobbit's shoulders before he let go of him.

"Oh, no," Bilbo muttered, "I would have doubted me, too. I'm not a hero. Or a warrior." He shot Gandalf a pointed look. "Not even a burglar."

Bilbo looked around then, a smile on his face, as he wanted to talk to Tarya. He wanted to thank her for fighting alongside him, for believing in him but he couldn't see her in the little crowd before him. "Where is – " he started but his question was drowned in the loud caw of an eagle and Kili's worried cry.

"Tarya!" the brunette dwarf yelled, jogging forward to where the eagle now gently laid the Amarok onto the floor.

"Oh dear," Bilbo heard Gandalf murmur as the wizard hurried forward, crouching beside Tarya and Kili who was kneeling next to her head. Thorin felt worry spreading in his stomach as he stepped closer as well, hearing the company erupt in concerned murmurs behind him, looking at the girl's form. She was beaten and bruised. Her right sleeve was ripped and underneath he could see a deep wound on her arm, dried blood all around it. She had a few scratches on her face but the injury on her forehead had disappeared by now. Thorin remembered distinctly how her back had looked after Goblin Town and he couldn't help but wonder whether that wound was gone, too. He didn't know what had happened to her during the fight with Azog but he was quite sure that it had happened while she had been defending him alongside Bilbo. He remembered having seen the silhouettes of the two before he had fallen into unconsciousness.

Gandalf placed one hand over her forehead when Kili spoke up. "The white warg bit her," he said agitatedly. "When she was fighting Azog. It dashed her away, she… she was –" but Gandalf cut him off with a mild glance.

"I know, Kili," he murmured. "I have seen it."

Kili understood quite well that with 'it', the wizard didn't really mean her being bitten by the warg but rather her state when she had been fighting. He swallowed dryly when he took in Gandalf's stern expression.

Tarya opened her eyes as the wizard withdrew his hand from her forehead.

As Tarya opened her eyes, she immediately clenched them shut again, the sun blinding her painfully. She tried to move then, a pained groan leaving her throat. Was there one part of her body that didn't ache?

"Slowly, now," she heard Gandalf say soothingly and as she opened her eyes again, she saw his face looming over her, his gaze speaking of worry but also relief.

"Thorin?" she asked, trying to sit up and feeling a strong hand supporting her back as she did so. Gandalf nodded at her. "Bilbo?" she continued, clenching her eyes shut from the pain that shot through her as she came into a sitting position. There had to be some sort of injury on her torso, she thought.

"He is perfectly fine," Gandalf told her, "They all are."

Tarya felt a relieved sigh leaving her throat as she opened her eyes again and looked around. And indeed, she saw the whole company standing a few feet away from her, sending her worried looks but also happy smiles and a little smile grew on her own lips as she saw the kind familiar faces.

"What were you thinking?" Thorin's voice growled and her smile faltered as she raised her head to see him standing behind Gandalf. "You could have been killed, you foolish girl."

"You're one to talk," Tarya huffed, her smile disappearing completely as she accepted Kili's arm around her waist, leaning heavily against him as she forced herself to stand up. "And I am not a foolish girl."

"You risked your life for a feud you had no part in," the dwarf-king said loudly, glancing over at Bilbo, for the words also applied to him, "that seems like the deed of a fool to me."

"I am not a fool for saving a friend's life!" Tarya shouted, not able to contain her anger anymore. She'd had enough for one day. "And I did not do it because of your feud with that bloody orc! I didn't even know you had a feud with him until you stomped off into your certain death like the bloody stubborn dwarf you are! You would be dead by now if it hadn't been for Bilbo and I, so don't you dare call me a fool. Believe it or not, I act of my own will, Thorin Oakenshield, for my own reasons. I am an Amarok! I have honour! I have pride and I have loyalty and I would rather have died than let that filthy orc get away with what he has done."

Thorin looked at her rather stupefied, obviously not sure how to react to her sudden outburst. She felt her companions' questioning eyes on her and she sighed heavily. She really didn't feel like talking about this right now, so she pushed herself off Kili who let go of her reluctantly and walked towards the edge of the cliff before letting herself plump down on the floor.

She heard mumbling behind her but she didn't pay any attention to it. Gandalf ordered them to get their injuries tended to, so they would be able to climb down the Carrock – as she now heard him call the cliff – later today. Oin came over to her after a while and she let him put some ointment on her arm and wrap it in a tight bandage, before he tended to the few scratches on her face and the bruises on her ribs. He was rather confused when he saw that the wounds from Goblin Town had already vanished but she couldn't bring herself to discuss it. She thanked him and he patted her shoulder lightly, telling her that she ought to be more careful from now on before he left her alone again.

As she looked down into the valley, she couldn't help the Defiler's words echoing in her thoughts.

'Your scent. She had the same.'

He had known exactly what kind of fur he was wearing and he had cruelly made that clear to her. She had known that her mother was dead but to know now that she had been killed by an orc that was wearing her fur like a trophy was simply sickening. This wasn't right. Her mother had been kind and loving. Wise and strong. She had not deserved a fate like this and Tarya didn't want to imagine how her life had ended. She didn't want to know what that orc had done to her.

She didn't know how long she'd been sitting by herself, lost in a trail of thoughts that brought her nothing but pain and anger, feet dangling over the edge, when she felt someone sit down next to her.

"What happened on that battlefield?"

Well, someone wasn't beating around the bush, she thought. But she wasn't in the mood to talk to him. She didn't want him to concern himself with her sorrow. Tarya didn't look at Kili when she answered. "It doesn't matter now."

She heard him sigh silently, before he spoke again and she heard that he was trying to keep his voice down, knowing that he was angry with her, frustrated probably. "It matters to me, Tarya." She looked over at him, meeting his gaze for a moment. He looked at her worriedly. "Something has changed," he muttered and she felt his gaze on her as she lowered her eyes again, looking down into the valley. "I have seen you fight, even if it was only in training," Kili continued. "But this time was different, Tarya. You were different."

"How?" she asked, avoiding his piercing gaze.

"It was as if you were… pure rage," he muttered hesitantly. "You were merciless, strong and… and powerful. Your eyes were glowing as if they were ablaze. And when I touched you, your skin was hot like fire."

Tarya took in the information. She didn't know what had happened to her body, really. She only knew that what Kili was telling her matched the feelings she'd had when it happened. She had felt like a hot mess of ire and pain but incredibly powerful, like nothing could stop her. Like she could have moved the earth if she had wanted to. But it had also been exhausting like nothing she had experienced before.

"What has he done?" Kili asked softly and Tarya looked up into his warm brown eyes, which were searching her own.

Kili was looking into his friend's golden eyes and saw that she was hesitating. She was straining to keep herself together, he could tell. It was clear that Azog was the reason for the rage in her but there was not only rage in those amber orbs. Kili could see an enormous amount of pain and sadness and it almost broke his heart not to know what was going on with her. He needed to know. Maybe he could help her. Finally, it seemed like she was about to say something, but then she frowned and averted her gaze, shaking her head.

"It's nothing you have to concern yourself with."

"How am I supposed to help you if you don't talk to me?" Kili asked, straining to keep his frustration out of his voice.

"You are not supposed to help me," she replied stubbornly. "You should not care so mu – "

Kili cut her off with a loud snort, his temper getting the better of him. "But that's what friends do, Tarya, for Durin's sake! I care about your well-being, I care about you and I don't understand how you could risk your life so easily. If it weren't for the eagles, you would be dead. If you'd only been a little bit slower, you would be missing your arm by now and you would have bled to death on the cold forest floor. And there would have been nothing I could have done." His voice was rising with every word he said and he hadn't even realized when he had gotten to his feet but he found himself now glaring down at Tarya who looked like she'd been hit. "So, even if you don't tell me what Azog has done to make you react the way you did, I would like a little advance warning the next time you run off and almost get yourself killed without caring about yourself or me or anyone, because then I could at least try to protect you."

"I don't need your protection, Kili! I can very well take care of my own," she growled at him, scrambling to her feet and turning on her heels but Kili grabbed her wrist and jerked her back before he could think better of it.

"Oh yes, that's why your arm got pierced by bloody warg teeth," he said, voice dripping with sarcasm. She was glaring daggers at him and he could imagine that his expression looked exactly the same. He was breathing heavily, telling himself to calm down for Durin's sake but with little success. He knew the others were watching them, all around them the chatting had stopped and made room for a distinct silence. He hadn't actually planned for his conversation with Tarya to escalate like that when he had sat down next to her a few minutes before.

"Let go," she growled lowly, "now."

He held gaze with her for a moment before he finally managed to bite back his anger for a second and abruptly let go of her wrist.

"And don't you dare accuse me of not caring about anyone ever again," she grumbled lowly and Kili frowned as a strange expression flashed across her face. "You don't know what you are talking about."

Thorin's voice suddenly cut through the heavy silence that had settled on the cliff.

"Get ready, we will descend into the valley!"

Thorin watched as the Amarok turned her back on his youngest nephew, anger written all over her usually soft features. Kili scowled at her back before he clenched his eyes shut for a moment, taking a deep breath. Fili came to stand by his side just as he released it again. Thorin couldn't hear what the blonde dwarf was telling his younger brother but he saw Kili sigh heavily before he nodded.

The descent was harder than Kili had imagined. Massive stair-like carvings led down the Carrock, most of them so high even Gandalf had trouble climbing down. They resolved to teamwork, then. Always two dwarfs going ahead and then helping the next two down from the upper ledge. Kili found himself next to his brother, Oin and Gloin helping the two of them down, while the two Durin heirs were supporting Bofur and Bifur. Kili couldn't help but glance at Tarya ever now and then who struggled with every ledge due to her ribs and her arm. She was further up, being helped by Dwalin and Bombur. Kili saw her pained expression every time she had to put pressure on either of her injuries to climb down, which only made him more frustrated with her stubborn behaviour. But he couldn't talk to her now. Not that she would have listened to him, anyway, she was pointedly ignoring his existence, although Kili was sure she felt his gaze every time he looked at her, for her expression hardened slightly each time. Fili had told him to calm down, that she needed time and that she would surely come to him, once she was ready to talk. Kili knew his brother was probably right but that didn't mean he had to like it.

It took them half of the day until they finally found themselves on grass again, the Carrock reaching up behind them.

"We will continue on until we find somewhere we can shelter for the rest of the day," Thorin announced, knowing that every member of his company was exhausted, tired and some even injured and that they desperately needed a break. So he led them on with Gandalf at his side. It took them longer than he had wished and the sun was already setting again when they finally found themselves on the edge of a copse, a small river purling through the bushes behind it. They would have enough shelter here, the dwarf-king thought, and they could take a bath in the river, which was definitely needed for all of them if he was to be honest.

"We camp here," Thorin called out, turning around just in time to see most members of the company slumping down on the spot where they stood. As they set up camp, Bombur started to cook with what little was left from their trials of the last hours. They had lost most of their provisions in Goblin Town.

Thorin glanced over his companions as he sat down next to Gandalf and Balin who were having a little conversation on their own, his gaze lingering on the black-haired woman that was quietly talking to Bilbo. He looked over towards his youngest nephew who sat with his brother on the opposite side of the camp, a grim expression on his youthful face.

"They will sort everything out eventually," Gandalf murmured next to him and Thorin slightly shook his head.

"That shall not be my concern. Kili was right with what he said, though," the dwarf-king muttered, watching some of the dwarves gathering a few things to go for a bath in the stream. "She should not have risked her life so carelessly."

"Oh, but I am sure she had good reason when she ran against Azog, Thorin," Gandalf replied. "Just as you did. And she was well able to stand her ground against the Pale Orc, if I may add. As it is, I might even go as far and say that Tarya and yourself have more things in common than you may think."

Thorin frowned at the wizard who was hiding his face behind a curtain of smoke from his pipe. "What do you mean by that?"

"I mean what I mean. It is not my place to tell someone else's stories," Gandalf responded. Thorin thought of questioning the wizard further but he knew that would lead to little or no valuable answers at all, so he kept quiet and glanced over at Tarya again who was just getting up from her spot next to the hobbit. Maybe he should take the wizard's hint and have a talk with the Amarok. He ought to learn more about her, anyway, considering how little he actually knew about this particular company member.

Tarya smiled at Bilbo as she got up, grabbed her bag and made to leave the camp. The sun was still up, although starting to go down on the horizon, dipping the sky in a beautiful rosy red colour. Bilbo had been the only member of the company that she had talked to since they had left the Carrock behind them. The hobbit had quite a way with her, she thought amusedly, he knew when it was wiser to leave her to herself, which he had done until he had deemed it time to try and speak to her again. And he also knew how to talk to her, avoiding the topic she so obviously didn't want to talk about. Bilbo was sensitive, he could tell that she didn't want to or couldn't talk about what had happened on the field against Azog and he had the decency not to push her.

Why couldn't Kili do that? Why couldn't he just have left her alone instead of arguing with her? She knew he was mad at her for going to fight Azog on her own but she couldn't quite comprehend why. She had had not much problem defending herself, after all. Sure, towards the end things had begun to become a bit more delicate but she had killed the bloody white warg, had she not? She had won. And what had she been supposed to do in his opinion, anyway? Let Bilbo fight a pack of orcs all by himself? Let the bloody pale orc just get away with what he had done to her mother? After he had dishonoured, defiled her, wearing her fur like a worthless rug? No. That was not a possibility.

As she emerged from the bushes, she found herself on the bank of the little stream she had been heading to. A bath was most welcome to her right now after what she had been through. She was dirty, she smelled and she needed to get rid of both. She quickly undressed in the shadow of the trees, and then swiftly cleaned her clothes as best she could, laying them out on the dry floor, before she slowly walked into the water until she was in up to the top of her belly. A small sigh left her as she tilted her head back, dipping her hair in the water, which was rather cold but she didn't care.

She didn't dare go further until she couldn't feel the ground beneath the surface anymore. She could swim – at least she could when she was a wolf – but she didn't really want to test her human swimming skills, having too much respect of the water, although the stream was only flowing in slow waves around her body.

She started cleaning herself, then, trying to shut down her circling thoughts for a few moments, which worked until she rubbed her arm to rid it from the dirt of the journey and her eyes fell on the bandage Oin had wrapped around it. Sighing slightly, she unwrapped it and took a look at the wound that rested there. The warg's tooth had practically pierced her but she could see that it was already starting to heal. That was at least one little advantage of being an Amarok, even when the rest of her being was marked with nothing but confusion, anger, pain, sorrow and loneliness at the moment. It was just too much she thought and felt her throat tighten, fighting the small sob that was trying to escape her. But it didn't work and soon, she felt the first tear stream down her face.

Tarya didn't know how long she had been in the water, crying to herself, but as she looked up to the sky, she could see that the sun had almost vanished behind the treetops. She quickly made her way out of the stream, putting on a few spare clothes from her bag before she gathered the ones she had laid out on the floor. They were almost dry by now. She then grabbed her bag and made to head for the camp again, wiping her hand over her face to get rid of the traces of her tears, not wanting anyone to see it, but as she turned around, she stopped dead in her tracks.

Kili was just making his way out of the bushes, his stern gaze settling on her just as her hand was sinking down from her face again. He looked her up and down for a moment before the frown on his face faded slightly and gave way to a more concerned expression.

"You have been gone quite a while," he finally said, his voice unusually reserved. "Is everything all right?"

She huffed slightly, averting her gaze. "No need to worry about me, as I have told you earlier."

"Yes, you've made yourself quite clear," he immediately retorted, annoyance clear in his voice, although the concern in his eyes didn't falter. His gaze was fixated on her face.

"And still you came after me now," she couldn't help but point out, stubbornly keeping her gaze away from him.

Kili kept quiet for a moment, eyeing her intently. "I couldn't help myself," he finally muttered, seemingly displeased with the notion himself. His words left a strange warm feeling in her stomach and she suddenly felt a twinge of guilt rush through her. Why couldn't she just tell him about her mother? What was making this so difficult, she asked herself? But if she was honest, she knew the reason. She didn't want him to see her like this, even though she knew he was her friend and he only wanted to help. She didn't want him to know she had been crying but with every second he was standing there and she had to keep her composure, she could feel herself getting closer to breaking down again.

"Well," she mumbled, trying to keep her voice steady. "As you can see, I am perfectly fine. You can go back to the camp."

When he didn't answer, Tarya raised her gaze and looked at him defiantly, scowling when he did the exact opposite of what she told him, instead stepping closer towards her.

"You're not fine," he observed worriedly, coming to stand only a few steps away from her.

Tarya clenched her eyes shut for a moment, trying to pull herself together. "I am. Just leave, Kili."

"No," was all he said before he pulled her towards him and wrapped his arms around her. Tarya tried to push him away but found that he was too strong, when he pulled her against him even further, trapping her arms between her chest and his. "I won't leave you alone."

She felt her barriers break when he mumbled those words into her hair and a quiet sob left her throat.