Hello, my dear readers, I hope you've all had a nice weekend!

ladymoonscar: Yeah, Beorn is pissed :D I guess everyone would be if they got nipped in the face, though :D

kaia: Haha :D Well, well, we're getting closer to Mirkwood with every chapter, so you'll find out eventually what happens when they enter :D

ZabuzasGirl: Firstly: Hello! :D And secondly: Here you go, it didn't come immediately but as fast as I could :D

Lillianpost: Thank you! :) I hope you keep finding it interesting as we progress :D

Thank you guys very much for your reviews! Keep 'em coming, they keep me motivated and I just love reading from you guys!

Also thanks to the people who favorited and followed me and this story! (Where do you guys keep coming from? It's unbelievable! I love it :D)

And now I hope you'll enjoy the new chapter and that you'll leave me a review, an opinion, a wish for future chapters, whatever you want, really, at the end of it! I'd love to read from you :)

It was already late afternoon, the dwarves sitting inside the house together with the hobbit, the wizard and the skin-changer, smoking their pipes when Tarya entered the room with heavy steps, trotting to the corner she had chosen as her spot the night before.

The company acknowledged her presence with a few curious sideways glances but she didn't pay them any attention.

"I'd almost forgotten what she originally looked like," Bofur said quietly, leaning back in his chair. Bifur grumbled something in Khuzdul in reply, making a few harsh signs with his hands to emphasize his point.

"I liked her better when she was human," Ori disagreed shyly, shrugging slightly when the burly dwarf raised his eyebrows at him. "She seems more menacing as a wolf."

"She doesn't seem menacing," Bombur chimed in. "She seems strong. But in a calm way, not menacing."

Kili shot the fat dwarf a questioning look but Bombur didn't notice and the young dwarf wondered what the redhead was thinking about when he glanced at the black wolf lying in the shadows of the room that was apparently not paying them any attention.

"Do you think she can change back?" Ori asked and almost flinched when a dark rumbling voice answered him.

"'Tis not a question of ability," Beorn said and captured the attention of the whole room. Only Gandalf didn't look at him but kept his gaze on the Amarok whose eyes were glowing through the dim light, pointing at the skin-changer who returned her gaze.

"What do you know of it?" Gloin asked and promptly caught himself a light growl from the bear man.

"I'm a skin-changer, am I not?" Beorn huffed.

"Yes, of course you are," the red-haired dwarf replied quickly, almost a bit abashed. "But Tarya isn't, she's – "

"She has shifted forms," Beorn cut him off roughly, looking back towards the black wolf in the corner. "Therefore, she is a shifter of sorts. The only difference between her and myself is that she has the same control over her body and mind in both of her forms."

There was a short silence in the room before Dwalin spoke up. "So, you say the wolf-girl can shift back?"

Beorn nodded, doing a slight shrug at the same time, which resulted in a weird looking gesture. "'Course she can. She knows it as well by now, I'd guess," he said, nodding towards Tarya who grumbled slightly at him. Beorn quirked one corner of his mouth up in reply to what no one beside him and Gandalf had understood. "Doesn't want to, though."

Tarya felt the gazes of her companions on her as they inquired as to what Beorn meant with that. But she averted her gaze, her mind already having been made up. She knew she could change back to being human if she wanted to. She could feel it. It was as if she was holding on to something at the moment, a sort of string that held her to her wolf-being, and she would just have to let go of that to change back. She had realized by now that she had felt the same in the woods yesterday. She had just needed to get pushed enough to let go in order to transform.

Gandalf looked at her questioningly and she shortly returned his gaze, the wizard's silvery-grey orbs boring into hers. He demanded an answer and he'd get one, she thought, making small grumbling noises followed by a low howl that echoed slightly through the room. Gandalf shortly closed his eyes with a sigh and Beorn slightly raised his eyebrows, looking around at the sitting dwarves who just looked confused.

"Lass doesn't want to be human," Beorn grumbled, translating roughly what she'd just told them, obviously a bit annoyed with the dwarves who shot him incredulous looks. "She's a wolf – well, an Amarok – and she doesn't belong with you."

While the companions' looks shifted from her to Beorn to Gandalf and between each other, only the gaze of one dwarf was set firmly upon her and it made her feel slightly uncomfortable because she could feel it without even having to look at him. She saw Kili stare at her with an unreadable expression on his youthful face out of the corner of her eye and Tarya couldn't bring herself to look back at him and turned around, so she was facing the wall.

"She'll be gone once morning comes and you depart for Mirkwood," Beorn explained, getting to his feet to leave the house as he did every night. The big wooden door fell closed behind him with a thud and left the room in a heavy silence. Tarya closed her eyes and tried to sleep, ignoring the words directed at her completely. And soon, darkness overtook her and she fell into a dreamless sleep.

Morning came soon and as Kili woke up, he saw that Tarya had apparently vanished with the first light, for there was no trace of her in Beorn's hall. She had actually gone, he thought and he felt a strange emptiness fill his body and mind as he got up, avoiding Fili's piercing gaze when he walked out the door. Some of the companions were already gathered on the small meadow in front of the house, packing a few ponies that Beorn was providing as he had promised. Kili saw his uncle talking to the skin-changer a few metres away, probably thanking him for his generosity and hospitality, and walked after his older brother towards the remaining ponies.

The young dwarf saddled and packed a lovely grey mare, all the while feeling somewhat numb to everything he was doing. How could she just leave like that? She was part of the company, they were friends and she just decided to throw it all away to go back to her life as a lone wolf? Kili couldn't believe it. And she hadn't even bid him farewell, he thought bitterly, and couldn't quite believe how hurt he felt at that.

Kili patted his pony's neck slightly when he was done, the animal neighing friendly at his gesture but the dwarf's movement stopped abruptly when he looked up and saw the familiar figure of the big black wolf sitting on the edge of the little oak-copse that surrounded one side of the meadow, watching him calmly across the field. The young prince felt something stir within him. She hadn't gone yet.

Gandalf, who had also spotted Tarya, quickly walked towards Kili, catching Thorin's attention in the process, causing the dwarf-king to follow him as he came to stand next to his nephew.

"Kili," said the old wizard calmly, although he felt quite agitated, really. The young dwarf turned his head to look at him questioningly. Fili beside him looked up as well. "Listen carefully now, young Kili, for I fear you are the only one able to prevent Tarya from running into perdition."

Said dwarf raised both eyebrows in surprise and slight worry. "What do you mean?" he asked lowly and Gandalf smiled slightly, relieved that he had Kili's full attention.

"Tarya is torn between her old life and the new one she began with her transformation in Rivendell," Gandalf said, "But it is vital that she stays with you. She has long overcome her sole existence as a wolf of the Amarok, she's something more now. Unique and more valuable than ever before and, I'm afraid, more endangered as well. I fear that if she ventures back into the wild on her own now, she will be the target of many who strive for might. And if her being falls into the wrong hands, she could live horrors that neither you nor I can imagine, young dwarf."

Kili looked at the wizard with wide eyes, his mind swirling with worry and confusion. Was Tarya really so powerful that she had to be… protected? Of course, he would protect her anytime if needed be and he didn't want her to live a fate as terrible as Gandalf was describing it. He would do anything to prevent that. And anyway, he had never wanted the Amarok to go.

"What do you mean by 'the wrong hands'?" Fili asked, stepping closer and quickly glancing at his uncle whose brows were furrowed deeply, before his gaze settled on the wizard.

Gandalf sighed deeply, obviously not quite sure what he could tell them and what not. "I'm afraid that an old evil is starting to form again in the south of Mirkwood and I will travel there to see for it myself soon. And evil has always had a desire for power. Tarya is powerful. And she is young and has suffered loss and therefore could make an easy target for manipulation."

"Tarya is strong, she cannot be manipulated so easily," Kili objected, brows drawn together.

"Strong she may be," Gandalf replied quietly, "But strength can be broken."

There was a short silence between the men before Thorin spoke lowly. "Her life is not safe if she were to stay with us, either."

"One is always safest in the company of friends," Gandalf replied, looking at Kili while he spoke, before he directed his gaze at Thorin. The dwarf-king inclined his head slightly, thinking about the wizard's words. Thorin didn't want for Tarya to be used or manipulated by anyone, him included. And he vowed to himself that she would have a true place amongst them, that he would try and be her friend from now on if she so wished, without any ulterior motives. He acknowledged her help with his quest as it was.

He nodded, looking at Gandalf and then at Kili who returned the nod slowly, exchanging a lingering look with his older brother who gave him a thoughtful smile, before he turned away from the three men and walked towards where Tarya was still sitting in the shadows of the trees.

When Tarya finally saw Kili approaching, she got to her feet before she turned around and slowly walked through the bushes until she came to a halt on the little bank of the stream that was flowing through these woods. She heard Kili step through the bushes just a few moments later and she turned to look at him. He was just standing a few feet away, looking at her silently, his face betraying nothing of whatever he was feeling at the moment.

As for her, she felt quite miserable, really, at the thought of leaving Kili. At the thought of leaving all of the companions but Kili in particular. But this would be the best thing to do. It was the best thing to leave this company now, for it had probably been a mistake to ever join them in the first place.

"For a moment, I'd thought you'd left already," Kili finally said, crossing his arms before his chest and looking at her intently as she sat down and returned his gaze. She wouldn't be able to talk to him, but she could do her best to make him understand what she meant to tell him. So she tilted her head, humming slightly.

"Yes, I know you wouldn't do that," Kili said and she shot him a smile, which he didn't return. "I don't understand why you want to leave at all."

Tarya stopped smiling and shot him a stern look but he continued before she could even try and make a sound. "No, I know why you think you should leave," the young dwarf said. "You think we're all just after your powers, after the… what's it called? The origin of light? But you're wrong, Tarya, and deep down you know it."

Tarya watched surprised as he stepped closer, one hand raised to emphasize what he was saying. "You're our friend and we all love having you with us. Not because you're an Amarok but because you're you. Because you're loyal and strong and kind. You've committed yourself to our quest, although you didn't have to and we're grateful for that."

"You're safe with us, safer than you'll be out in the wild alone." Kili was standing right before her now and she couldn't think quite straight anymore, shooting him a confused look. "It's what Gandalf said. And it's true, too. Something was haunting you when you first joined us but it has not bothered you since you've started travelling with us, has it?"

He was right there, Tarya thought. She knew there was something or someone out there who was after her. Or had been, as far as she knew. She remembered the whispering voice quite clearly, trying to convince her that she and her kin had been treated unkindly, unfairly and that she should avenge that fact with the owner of the voice. It had tried to manipulate her, had made her angry and blind. And it had almost succeeded, as well. But then her mother's voice had rung through her mind, told her to 'become light' and then she'd woken up as a little human who couldn't stand on her own two feet.

Had this been fate? Had she been meant to change and to join those dwarves on their quest to reclaim the homeland that had been taken from them by an honourless greedy firedrake? Because maybe she couldn't avenge her own kin, couldn't have a home of her own, but she could help these exiles to reclaim theirs.

Should she stay?

Tarya also knew that these dwarves, the hobbit and the wizard were good people. She trusted them, she trusted Kili above all, more than anyone she had ever met. Maybe she should just give them another chance?

She hesitantly looked up at her brunette friend who was returning her gaze intently. "Please, Tarya. Don't just leave. I… I would miss you…" he muttered, raising one hand to sadly stroke her head.

Kili looked down at his wolven friend, feeling terribly nervous but determined. Tarya looked up at him and there was something reflecting in her golden eyes, a feeling that Kili couldn't decipher. But he saw hesitation in her honey orbs and he slowly retired his hand from her head.

Tarya was looking at him attentively and Kili sighed silently. "Maybe you're transformation was meant to be, you know? It's an extraordinary gift and you like being human, I know that." The wolf averted its gaze slightly, grumbling a bit and Kili knew he was right. "Maybe you don't have to decide between being human or being wolf, Tarya," he continued slowly. "Perhaps you were always meant to be both."

"We don't want to use you," the young dwarf added earnestly and honestly. "I know you think that but it's not true. And if you give us a chance, we can prove ourselves to you the way you have proven yourself to us over and over again."

Suddenly, Tarya huffed some air through her nose as if in defeat and turned her head away for a moment, leaving Kili to stare at her nervously and expectantly. Then, the wolf looked back at him and inclined her head towards him and it took Kili a moment before he realized that she was pointing at his cloak with her snout. Frowning, he removed the garment and held it out to her, although he really didn't see what was going on now. Tarya stepped underneath his coat and made a small jerky movement towards the floor with her head. Guessing what she was trying to tell him but eyebrows raised in utter confusion, Kili let go of his cloak, the thing falling onto the wolf's form as it lay down.

Kili caught a last glance from Tarya before she closed her eyes and he quickly took an alarmed step backwards as the massive animal started to shrink before his very eyes. A shimmering light that was so faint Kili wasn't even sure it was actually there had come to surround his animal friend and the young dwarf could only watch with wide eyes as her limbs started to change swiftly underneath the warm glow.

It all went quite fast but for Kili it was as if he was staring at her for an eternity as her forelegs became bare arms and her big paws shrank and changed into delicate hands. In the end, the figure of the big black wolf had given way to that of a petite woman that was crouched on all four under his coat and when Tarya raised her head, Kili saw the familiar golden eyes beaming back at him out of the equally familiar beautiful face of his black-haired friend. She met his wide-eyed gaze with a calm one of her own, albeit she did look a little flustered, and they just looked at each other for a long moment. She had changed for him, Kili thought awestruck, and he knew that what had just happened here, was without doubt an incredibly intimate moment between the two of them.

His mouth was still hanging half open in shock and awe and he quickly snapped it closed when she shuffled a bit underneath his garment. Tarya pulled the cloak tighter around her as she came to sit on her knees and Kili suddenly became awfully aware that she was stark naked underneath the brown leather of his coat. He could feel his face turning bright red and quickly averted his gaze when she rose to her feet, the length of his coat allowing him to see her bare calves and feet.

There was an awkward silence between them as she stepped closer to him and he still couldn't meet her gaze, instead staring at the slowly purling stream behind her, his heart doing funny things inside his chest that he couldn't suppress.

Tarya looked at Kili, trying to catch his gaze but he was stubbornly avoiding looking at her directly. She felt a bit flustered at what had just happened but she didn't regret transforming in front of him. It felt like she had shared something very important with him, something extremely intimate and he was the only one that she trusted enough to do so.

"Kili," she muttered quietly and could see him inhale deeply before he finally turned his head and she could look into his dark brown eyes again. The Amarok smiled slightly at her friend, seeing that he was at a loss of what to say or do. She didn't quite know what to say herself, for there were too many things she wanted to say but she couldn't articulate even one of them properly. She would stay with them and she was ready to give them a second chance, knowing that they would never intentionally hurt her.

"I trust you," she finally mumbled, hoping that this would be enough for him to understand.

And Kili did understand, looking at her for another long moment in which Tarya couldn't avert her gaze from his, feeling as if she had been frozen in place by the intent look he was giving her, although strangely not in a bad way. There was a funny feeling in her stomach and for a moment she wondered whether she was hungry.

Eventually, Kili cleared his throat slightly, giving her a small smile and held out his right hand to her. Tarya smiled brightly, putting her left hand in his, holding the cloak together with her right one. Kili turned around then and led her away from the stream and she followed him through the bushes with bare feet, their hands wrapped tightly together when they emerged from the little copse.

There were a few surprised gasps and grunts from her companions when she crossed the meadow beside Kili, feeling him tugging her slightly closer to him when they passed the first dwarves. She caught a few gazes and returned them with a shy smile but Kili had already led her into the house before anyone had recovered enough to say something.

He let go of her hand to reach for her bag that lay beneath one of the beds, which still stood in the hall and held it out to her. Tarya took it with a slight smile, hugging it to her chest.

"I'll… I'm gonna wait outside," Kili spluttered and she just nodded at him before he turned around. She had just been about to turn her back on him when he turned around again and took two big steps towards her, grabbing her head gently between his hands and pressed a small kiss to her forehead. "I'm glad you're staying," he whispered against her skin and as he pulled back graced her with a soft smile that had her speechless for a moment, giving him enough time to turn away from her – this time definitely – and exiting the house to leave her to get dressed.

Tarya stared after him and at the closed door with wide eyes for a long moment, not understanding what had her stomach fluttering so strangely.