It was an odd sight that Bard the Bowman came upon when he stepped out of the Healers' tent.
There before him was the large man that Gandalf had spoken about. The skin-changer named Beorn.
That in itself wasn't the strange sight.
No.
It was the fact that he was carrying someone in his arms.
It wasn't until he took a closer look at the figure in his arms that he realized just who he was carrying.
"Lyla!"
He ran over and reached for the young woman. He stopped when a growl came from the skin-changer's throat.
He raised his hands to show no harm was meant.
"I know her. She is as a sister to me. What happened?"
Beorn looked at the woman in his arms.
He shook his head.
"Just fainted. She has seen too much death today. She needs to rest."
Bard grimaced and nodded. He turned and pointed to the tent behind him.
"Those are the healer tents. If you give her to me, I will make sure she is taken care of."
Beorn shook his head.
"I will take her there."
He strides around him and speaks over his shoulder.
"The little cub will need food and drink when she wakes. See to that."
With that he bends nearly in half and enters the tent.
'Little cub?'
Bard stared at the tent a few moments longer, before shaking his head and leaving to fetch the young woman some food and drink.
A strange sight indeed.
/ ~ / ~ / ~ /
Consciousness slowly came to Lyla and she opened her eyes with a groan.
She was not on the battlefield anymore.
She was in the Healers' tent.
'How did I end up here?'
She had not realized that she had spoken out loud until a voice replied to her.
"Easy there. You were asleep for some time. I didn't know if you were wounded or not as the giant would not let us near you to check. Thankfully you had just fainted."
'Giant?'
She sat up sharply.
"Giant? You mean Beorn?"
"If that is his name, then yes. He brought you, demanding you have a soft bed to sleep in. Thankfully we had this empty cot."
"Where is he now?"
The healer pointed to a tray on the table next to her.
"He left after King Bard brought that. His majesty was asking him about what type of wood was better suited for building."
'King Bard?'
She must have had a confused look on her face because the healer spoke again.
"Did you not hear? Bard has been named King of Esgaroth and soon he will be king of Dale as well, once it is rebuilt."
Lyla smiled.
"I think he will be a great king."
"Glad to know you still have faith in me, Lyla."
Her head whipped to look at the man that walked in the tent.
"Bard! Oh, uh I mean Your Majesty."
He waved a hand at her.
"Oh not you too. Bard will do just fine, little bit."
She groaned.
"I am nearly 26 Bard. When are you ever going to stop calling me that?"
He threw his head back and laughed.
"Well, it could be worse. I could always call you cub. That is what Beorn called you. Now what did you do to get him to give you that name, Lyla?"
She blushed bright red.
"I might have-well you see-*sighs*I threw a rock at him."
The smile fell from his face.
"You what?!"
"He was bleeding badly and he wouldn't stop walking when I called out to him. So I tossed a small rock at him to get his attention. It worked."
Bard shook his head, chuckling.
"Only you would be so reckless as to throw a rock at a skin-changer so you could tend to his wounds."
"How is he?"
"Beorn? He is fine. He is helping the others to cut wood for rebuilding."
"He's cutting wood?! But he'll rip his stitches and then I will have to do them all over again!"
She threw off her covers and grabbed her coat, throwing it on as she exited the tent, muttering something about stubborn bears.
The healer made to stop her but Bard stopped him with a shake of his head.
"Shouldn't we stop her?"
"Nay. I have a feeling things are about to get a lot more interesting around here."
The healer looked at where the young woman had been and then at Bard. His mouth dropped open in shock.
"You can't mean - Lyla and him? Truly?"
Bard nodded.
"She acts much like Brigid did whenever I got hurt, be it a scratch or a few stitches. She just doesn't know it yet."
"So that was why he wouldn't let us near her. It was the instinct to protect his own."
"Yes."
"What do we do?"
Bard smiled.
"Let them figure it out on their own. It should make for some entertainment in the meantime."
Bard and the Healer locked eyes and shared a laugh.