They stayed at Beorn's for four more days, in which time Bilbo went stir crazy. He had to beg Thorin and Oin to let him move around the house after the second day, and even then he had at least one dwarf with him. Yes, he had been in pain but he healed faster than a normal….mortal. So while that first day he had been on the verge of death, the second day he was on the verge of smothering the next dwarf who asked if he was ok. He'd been in worse states in his past and only Beorn seemed to understand that crowding the hobbit and forcing him to stay in bed was a bad idea. Of course, his brother was still concerned for him, which was why he was forced to stay in bed that first day. Bilbo wouldn't admit that he was thankful for the forced rest, since he always felt exhausted after moving around just a little, but he needed to be outside in the sunshine. He knew what awaited them in Mirkwood and he needed to do everything he could to prepare himself for it.

Mirkwood was dying, tainted by something dark and old, almost as old as Bilbo and Beorn. Neither of the skinchangers had stepped foot into the forest since it had been the Greenwood, but they had been to its borders or close enough. It had left them feeling sick and disturbed. Nature should not feel like that, like toxic and oily and crawling with something foul. If he had been in good health, Bilbo would not have been so worried about entering the cursed land, but with how he was still healing…well, he was very happy his brother was coming with. It would have been nice if the wizard was coming with, but both Beorn and Bilbo knew something was brewing to the south. The dwarves did not know, being so young in the world. They did not sense the shifts in the world as the skinchangers did.

The dwarves didn't notice the tension that seemed to float around the skinchangers those few days, the brothers circling each other uneasily. They hadn't seen each other in centuries and now they were reunited to fight a war that was not their own. There was so much between them, so many unanswered questions sitting between them like a giant abyss with each brother on separate sides.

They only had a little time alone together before they headed out. Bilbo had been able to get away from his dwarven escort out in the gardens and found a quiet bench under an old willow tree. He hadn't been there long before Beorn had shown up. The larger skinchanger sat down on the ground, back leaning against the bench. They sat in silence for sometime before Beorn looked over his shoulder to look at Bilbo.

"A dwarf king?" Beorn raised an eyebrow at Bilbo. They were silent for a moment before both started laughing, leaning against each other for support.

"It was unexpected," Bilbo gasped out, wiping tears from his eyes.

"I would say so," Beorn chuckled as he patted his brother on the head. "I haven't seen you so happy in sometime, brother."

"I can say the same about you, brother," Bilbo poked Beorn in the chest.

"The past is a heavy burden to bear, even if we carry it together," Beorn nodded sadly.

"I did not mean to abandon you all those years ago," Bilbo sighed. "I just….I could not carry on as I had."

"Neither could I, Little Bunny," Beorn pulled Bilbo close, hugging his younger brother as though he could protect him from the world.

"And now we throw ourselves right back into the thick of it," Bilbo buried his head in Beorn's shoulder. "Why are we doing this?"

"Because you are madly in love with a dwarf king who just so happens to be a fool. How was he thinking he was going to take on Smaug any way?" Beorn frowned. "Even if they had found a burglar like that had planned, most of them would have ended up dead anyway."

"And whoever wasn't would have been poisoned by the gold madness that lays upon the horde," Bilbo nodded sadly. "I don't even know how to purify such a large amount of gold."

"I fear we'll have to do the whole bloody mountain at this rate. Smaug has been in there for almost sixty years, not to mention what the Arkenstone as done to curse the mountain," Beorn pulled away from his brother. "Dwarves are easily swayed by things that shine out from the darkness of their caves."

"Oh, don't remind me, brother. They all had to go into a troll hoard early on in our travels. A troll hoard! Not even Rivendell could purge the smell from their clothes," Bilbo shuddered at the memory.

"A troll hoard is still better than a dragon hoard," Beorn pointed out.

"We have time to figure it out. We can at least get rid of Smaug for starters," Bilbo huffed. "Maybe at that point we can get some of those blasted elves to wave their hands around and help."

"Now you are asking too much of these young ones," Beorn laughed and the brothers fell into a light conversation before Thorin found them.

The next day found the whole group up early, saddling up the ponies that Beorn was providing. Bilbo and Beorn stood to the side, watching the proceedings and barely hiding how bored they were.

"Are we going too slow for you two?" Gandalf finally cut through the dwarves' conversation to draw attention to the two.

"Oh, no, you're doing just fine," Bilbo waved his pipe absently.

"Why don't you two help and get your rides saddled up," Thorin huffed at his One. "I'm not carrying you all the way."

"Why ride when you can run, oh mighty dwarf?" Beorn smirked from where he leaned against a tree.

"Hey, so Bilbo can change into a dragon right?" Dwalin cut in. "What can you change into?"