'Breathing, that´s the trick. Breathe.' Gloin panted as they passed the forest and ran towards a big meadow. Beautiful, huge flowers grew towards the sun and big bees were flying inbetween them, but not even Bilbo had an eye for that. The bear crashed out of the woods behind them as they had barely reached the wooden door of the small cottage. In their panic, none of the dwarves managed to push up the heavy bar of the lock to push the door open. Thorin was the one who reached up and lifted the bar in time for the company to rush through the door and close it again, right in front of the bears nose. The bang on the door as the bear crashed against it was numbing, but they were able to lock the door after a long struggle.

'You still want a bear as a pet, Kili?' Fili smirked at his panting brother.

'Well, at least he would keep me at my best.' Kili remarked dryly and tried not to look too exhausted from the long run.

'This beast lives in here?' Belladonna looked at Gandalf in shock. 'He does not even fit through the door!'

'This "beast" is called Beorn and he is a skinchanger.' Gandalf told them and smiled faintly. 'His human form is quite reasonable.'

'He is leaving.' Ori informed the others as he peaked through a little hole by the door.

'Get away from there.' Dori pushed his youngest brother away from the door. 'This is not natural, he must be under some dark spell!'

Belladonna exchanged a glance with her father and both were thinking the same. If Dori and the others knew that Branns presence was with them and that Thorin could even speak to her, they would probably fear to follow Thorin. Some older dwarves like Dori were very superstitious and Thorin feared what they would not understand. The king of the dwarves walked through the massive house of the skinchanger and inspected it. It was nice and cozy, but the furniture was huge. Thorin jumped as Kili raced past him and jumped up onto one of the chairs. Thorins nephew sat back on the chair and his feet barely touched the edge. He looked like a small dwarfling again and reminded Thorin of the time when Dis, Fili and Kili had visited Brann and him in Bree. After the short encounter with Brann he missed her even more.

'This is awesome! Look at the pints, uncle!' Kili cheered and showed Thorin a pint which was half of himself.

'Maybe for once one drink would suffice, then.' Fili teased his younger brother.

'We should not cause too much of a mess, we are guests in this house. Uninvited guests.' Belladonna insisted and Thorin nodded.

'Get some sleep. We should be safe here.' he exchanged a look with Gandalf and saw that the wizard looked unsure. But he ignored it. He was too tired to worry.

#

Thorin and the company were already asleep while Bilbo lay in the hay, wide awake. Belladonna had cuddled up at her fathers side and Bilbo watched her for a moment before Thorins arm wrapped itself protectively around Belladonnas middle. It was as if, even in his sleep, the king would protect his daughter from unwanted glances. Bilbo lay back and let his mind drift to his ring. He had not seen the beautiful woman again and Bilbo wondered wether she was still with them. He had watched Thorin closely during their last days, but he had not seen any indication of the king knowing about the woman´s presence. Instead, Bilbo had noticed many parallels between Belladonna and the woman. They had the same eyes, the same warm and loving gleam in the brown orbs. Their hair had the same color and the shape of their lips was similar. Their voices had been very similar. The woman had not said alot, but she had been worried about Bilbos ring. Bilbo was reluctant about telling anybody about the ring, but he did not know why. Surely, the dwarves would not take it from him? Dwarves were greedy and longed for everything golden, did they not? But what if they really took it from him? It was only a ring. Bilbo jerked from one side to the other as he was interrupted by the opening door. The hobbit instantly froze and watched the entrance of the house. A huge man with long hair and a bare torso came into his vision. Although not as huge as the bear, the man was an intimidating character. His eyes shone yellow in the moonlight and Bilbo shuddered. He watched the big man, Gandalf had called him Beorn, for a while longer, until his eyes fell shut and he fell asleep.

#

The hobbit carries something. He carries something evil. I do not know what it is, but you should be careful.

Thorin looked around and saw Brann leaning against a white pillar. They were in Rivendell, on a balcony right above the waterfall which flowed into the river leading to the west.

'Rivendell? Really?' Thorin walked around a big white table and took his wife into his arms. He knew that he was dreaming and he desperatly tried to stay asleep.

Its your dream. Brann chuckled and nuzzled his nose with hers.

Thorin remembered what Brann had told him a few moments ago. 'What did you say about the halfling? How do you know that he is carrying something evil with him?'

He saw me before the orcs attacked us. He was standing right there, listening to you judging him. Nobody of you could see him, but he saw me. He walked between the worlds, Thorin. Like a ghost. I could see something golden shine in his hands before he disappeared and became visible to you again.

'Something golden?' Thorin frowned. 'Are you sure? But gold is not evil.'

Are you sure? Gold has cost your family their home and their sanity. And you are telling me that gold is not evil?

Thorin sighed and felt annoyance about his wife's words. 'This has nothing to do with Durins curse. And not the gold is evil, but the lust for it.'

Brann cocked an eyebrow at him and smirked. But apparently it makes true poets out of the most stone headed dwarves. I mean it, Thorin. Ask the hobbit how he escaped the goblin tunnels. He is small and can easily walk unseen, but still...it is impossible to walk past thousands of goblins unseen. Unless...he had help.

'And how am I supposed to start this conversation?' Thorin sat them both down on a stone bench. 'That my dead wife saw him and warned me about something golden in his posession?'

Well, maybe you should not be all Thorin about it. Brann crossed her arms in front of her chest and frowned at her husband.

'What is being "Thorin"?' Thorin asked and grinned at his wife.

What do you think? Being an insufferable and pig headed dwarf, of course. Brann could not help but smile lovingly at her husbands frown. It may not be important, but the hobbit has a secret, a secret which may concern you all. You are the leader of this company, Thorin. You should be informed about everything. A nosy wizard with secrets is bad enough.

Thorin sighed and nodded. 'I will ask him when I get the chance. But could we for once not speak about the hobbit when we are together? It happens rarely enough.'

Brann cupped her husbands face in her hands and smiled. You could tell me more about Azog. I knew nothing about him. I saw your memories, Thorin. He was the orc who killed your grandfather. We shared the horrors of Azanulbizar. Why did you not share these memories with me before?

Thorin took his wife's hand into his bigger ones. He needed her close. 'I thought that I had killed that filth. There was no need to tell anyone about him. He killed my king and grandfather. Talking about him would only do him honor.'

He is still alive and he is hunting you. Your quest is already dangerous enough without a pale orc hunting down the members of Durins family. Why does he hate your family that much?

Thorin took a deep breath and chewed on his lower lip. His grandfather Thror had often spoken about a great battle at Gundabad. It was there when he had made the pale orc Azog his worst enemy.

'Thror, my grandfather, fought in Gundabad when he was a young prince. The dwarves of Erebor had been asked for help by a neighbouring kingdom, which the orcs had overrun. In the midst of the battle, Thror saw a beautiful elven maiden clad in furs and filth covering her blonde hair. He thought that the orcs had captured her and tried to rescue her. But she fought against him. She even tried to protect some orcs from the dwarven axes and slaughtered some of Thror comrades. Thror killed her in the end. As the dwarves retreated, Thror saw Azog kneel down at the side of the fallen elf, grief and pain clouding his pale eyes. Thror had killed his mate.'

An elf? And an orc? Brann whispered and shuddered. How can they even...?

'Orcs are elves, Brann.' Thorin told his wife. 'Elves which have been mutilated, tortured and broken by a dark force until they turned into the filthy creatures called orcs. Lord Elronds wife was captured by the forces of evil, too. Her sons found her shortly before she had turned into one of those evil creatures herself. The former beauty of Lothlorien was broken and left Middle Earth, much to the sorrow of her family. But it was her only choice. She was turning into a dark creature already. She would not let her family watch while she turned into something filthy and hateful, a broken creature. I believe, that the elf at Gundabad had been captured by Azog and that she had formed a bond with him, protecting her soul and her body from turning into something filthy herself. Maybe she even loved Azog, she fought at his side and she even died for him. As unbelievable as it sounds, Thror had killed Azogs love. He told me the story when I was only a small dwarfling. I only realised at the battle of Azanulbizar how horrible the consequences turned out to be for my family. I had hoped that I had killed the vengeful filth that day. But I failed.'

You did not fail, Thorin. You turned the battle in your favor. If it had not been for you and your courage and bravery, many more dwarves would have died that day. Brann had witnessed Thorins strength herself after the battle. How he had struggled to keep his people alive and safe. How he had struggled with the loss of his grandfather and father and had been pushed into the role of the king much too soon.

Brann cuddled up at Thorins side and gazed down the waterfall and to the horizon. The king of the dwarves sighed and held his wife tight. He did not want to wake up and as the first rays of sunlight shone through the cottage and woke him up, the king was grumpier than ever.

#

Belladonna was already awake as her father stirred. They were the last to rise, only Bilbo was still asleep. They decided that they should let the hobbit sleep and rest, for he must had been exhausted from the long walk and run. Thorin and Belladonna walked to the kitchen table, where the company was already having breakfast. Thorin nodded towards the skinchanger, who acknowledged his presence with a short nod himself, while Belladonna smiled at the huge man.

'Thank you for your hospitality, Master...Beorn.' she needed a while to remember his name.

'You are welcome, dwarf lass.' Beorn grumbled. He did not say anything more and Belladonna decided to stay silent. She was hungry and looked around the table. There were nuts, bread and honey. Beorn poured milk into her cup, which had the size of a huge pint and Belladonna drank greedily. She just then remembered that she should behave more princess like and tried to slow down. Bofur on the other hand stuffed his mouth full until he could barely chew anymore and swallowed some nuts without even trying to chew.

'Master Bofur, you will chocke to death on ons of these nuts.' Belladonna smirked at the merry dwarf. 'You inhale your food instead of chewing.'

'I grew up with Bombur, princess.' Bofur smiled at her inbetween eating. 'If you didn´t eat fast, you didn´t eat!'

The dwarves laughter woke up Bilbo and the hobbit stretched sleepily. As he realised that the company was already eating, he scrambled up and joined them at the huge table. Belladonna greeted him cheerfully, as well as most of the company. Thorin ignored him again, but Bilbo knew that the king was not a morning person at all. Bilbo was curious to know more about their host. So he asked.

'Are there more like you?' Bilbo asked Beorn, who was filling Filis pint with milk.

'Once, there were many.' The skinchanger replied sadly.

'And now?' Bilbo almost dreaded the answer. The skinchanger lived alone. If there had been more like him then they would have probably lived with him. He cursed himself for asking, but it was too late.

'Now, there is only one.' Beorn whispered.

'Did the orcs do this to you?' Belladonna asked. She had seen the orc head spiked on a spear outside of the cottage. Apparently, Beorn had been hunting at night.

'The pale orc killed most of my people. Some, he kept for entertainment.' Beorn looked down at his chained wrist.

'These chains look painful.' Belladonna frowned. 'My father is a blacksmith, he could help you with that.'

Thorins head jerked around as he heard his daughter talk about his skill as a smith. The skinchanger looked down at Thorin and frowned.

'I do not like dwarves. They are greedy and ignorant towards the lives of those who they condemn as lesser than themselves.' Beorn stood in front of Thorin, who had crossed his arms in front of his chest. 'But maybe, I will be able to change my mind.'

#

Thorin growled quietly into his beard. He inspected the tools which Beorn had in his cottage and looked for a hammer and a chisel to break the chains around Beorns wrists apart.

Our daughter really brought you into trouble, dear husband. Do not miss the chains, if you hurt him you´ll have a bear biting you in the behind. Brann chuckled and Thorin frowned.

'Very funny, woman.' he grumbled and looked around to reassure himself that he was alone. 'Our daughter sold my skills to that skinchanger without asking me.'

Our daughter has manners. She knew that you owe him for letting you stay and protect you from the orcs. You should be proud of her character.

'I am!' Thorin smiled as he saw his daughter stand at the door talking to Beorn. She barely reached his thighs. 'She could have asked me anyway. Great Mahal, I haven´t touched a hammer in decades! What if I miss the chain and get his wrist? He´ll make a rug out of me.'

Thorin rolled his eyes as he heard Brann laugh. At least someone had fun. He walked back to the house with his tools and nodded at the skinchanger. Gandalf sat down on a bench and watched the dwarf king in amusement. Thorin was sweating as he placed Beorns wrist on a wooden snag and measured the power for the blow. He was reaching out as Kilis voice startled him.

'Be careful, uncle. This is really delicate work!' Kili made Thorin flinch. Kili watched him with big brown eyes and once again Thorin was reminded of Kili as a young dwarfling. His eyes had taken half of his face when he was born.

'You think?' Thorin growled and glared at his youngest nephew. As he reached out for the second time, Fili interrupted him.

'Hit the nail, uncle. That way you´ll snap the lock open with one blow.' he stated and looked at the chains in awe.

Thorin took a deep breath and closed his eyes, mentally counting to ten. He was about to lift the hammer a third time when he was interrupted again.

'Ten silver coins that he misses.' Thorin heard Nori whisper in his back. Brann chuckled in his head and Belladonna did not take her big eyes off him. Even the halfing was staring.

Thorin placed the chisel above the nail and held his breath. Before anyone could say another word, he forcefully let the hammer descend onto the chains and they broke.

'One blow! I am proud of you, adad.' Belladonna hugged Thorin from behind and almost made him drop the hammer onto Beorns fingers.

'There is still one to go.' Thorin groaned and tried to catch some air, for Belladonna was strangling him.

'Oh, sorry.' Belladonna stepped back and smiled at Beorn. 'I told you that my father is the best!'

The skinchanger smiled faintly at the young female dwarf and eyed Thorin as he reached out for the second blow to the other chain. With a loud shatter, the second chain fell off and Beorn rubbed his wrists. He had worn the chains for decades and now, without them, he felt naked. He was finally free of this last token of Azog and it was this dwarf of all people who had freed him of them. The overly proud king of the dwarves took his tools and was about to leave as Beorn held him back.

'Thank you, dwarf.' he nodded gratefully and released Thorins arm.

Thorin relaxed at the words and bowed his head slightly. 'Thank you for your hospitality, Master Beorn.'

Beorn smirked and looked Thorin up and down. 'Maybe I was wrong about some dwarves.'