Thorin had thought traveling with a wolf had been strange enough. But a wolf and a bear? That was something very unique, if not uncalled for. Really, they could just stay as they were and ride horses and ponies like civilized beings. That was too simple it seemed for the skinchanger brothers though. Thorin caught sight of Beorn some ways ahead, loping around an outcrop. He'd last seen Bilbo slipping into the tall grass off to their left, his brown hide making it easy for him to blend in. Yes, it was nice that they had such wonderful bodyguards, but that's why Thorin had brought the others along with. These two were taking all of the fun out of traveling now. Of course, they weren't getting lost this time round, but still. Thorin wouldn't mind the occasional skirmish here or there.

They'd been traveling for three days already and Thorin was only a little frustrated with the pace the skinchangers had been setting as of late. He knew they could have made it to Mirkwood in only a couple of days. They were still (hopefully) going to make it to Erebor before Durin's Day, although he didn't know if they needed that back door anymore. He'd seen the looks those two shared while they let Bilbo heal. The skinchangers had a plan and it involved Gandalf. Beorn had cornered the wizard on their last full day back at the bear's house. Thorin had spotted them while searching for Bilbo. Gandalf had not looked happy at all and possibly a little terrified. Thorin had a bad feeling about whatever they were all planning on doing.

Up ahead, Mirkwood was growing larger and larger, the trees more defined as time went by. Thorin could feel himself getting tenser and tenser the closer they got to the tree line. Before him lay the kingdom of Thrandruil, a pompous git who just happened to be one of the oldest living beings in the whole land. Gods, if only they had the time or the ability to go around, then Thorin wouldn't have to worry about dealing with the stupid elf. He understood while Bilbo didn't want to play pack mule for them, but this was Mirkwood they were talking about. Maybe he could make an exception just this once.

"You're thinking too hard again, Uncle," Fili piped up from his left. Kili was out in front with Dwalin, the older dwarf using this time to train the young prince. Thorin believed they were playing I Spy.

"And why am I thinking too hard?" Thorin glanced at his nephew, giving a soft smile. He knew he was sometimes harsh with the boys, but he had to be. He couldn't hide how cruel the world was to them. They knew what others could do, had seen it plenty of times over the years.

"Yes, we must go through Mirkwood. It's the fastest way to Laketown and then to Erebor. I know we don't have very good relations with the Elves of Mirkwood, but we will need their held if we want to rebuild at all. We can't force our caravans up through the North Pass or even farther north to the higher passes because there is activity in Gundabad. We force them all the way to the Gap of Rohan and now we're dealing with more days on the road and more chances of our people being attacked. We need a safe path through Mirkwood if we wish to bring our people home," Fili said matter-a-factly.

"How do you propose we go about getting the elves to agree with us?" Thorin couldn't help but scoff. "When they can't even keep their own people safe in their woods, how can we trust them to protect ours?"

"And its more like that we don't have any relations at all with these treelovers," Bofur called up from where he rode just behind Dori and Balin. "They don't want anything to do with us. We have a greater chance of getting locked up till after Durin's Day than we do actually getting them to help us at all."

"But we will need their help," Balin spoke up. "We don't have the man power right now to even think about protecting Erebor. I doubt our skinchangers will want to stick around long once they finish up with Smaug."

"And why won't they want to stay?" Thorin turned to Balin, growling just a little.

"Thorin, I understand that Bilbo is your One, but this dragon represents a lot of bad memories for both Bilbo and Beorn. I wouldn't blame them if they needed to get away for a bit. And I certainly wouldn't mind joining them," Balin huffed.

"You would want to leave Erebor, after all that we have suffered through to get her back," Dori scoffed. "We'll have our hands full getting her back to all of her former glory."

"Aye, we will," Balin nodded. "Plenty of bodies to bury as well, seeing as the worm probably left them where they lay. It will take years to get through every inch of that mountain. And there are plenty of younger dwarves out there to do that. I was perfectly happy back in the Blue Mountains. We had a good life there, a stable one. We didn't have to worry about elvish or human dignitaries popping up whenever they wished."

"And our people were starving, we were struggling to find work and we have a whole mountain filled with gold that could keep all of our people fed for centuries," Bofur pointed out.

"If someone was starving back in the Blue Mountains, it was because the weren't doing their fair share of the work," Fili said softly. "I've looked over the numbers, Uncle. There was work for everyone in the mountains for at least another hundred years, if not longer. We haven't even started digging new tunnels. We would have been fine there."

"Yes, we would have been fine. We never settle for being just fine, Fili, ever. What's best for us and our people is retaking Erebor and regaining the honor and glory of our ancestors," Thorin turned so he was facing Mirkwood once more. "Doing anything less would be an insult to those who gave their lives for us to be here."

He caught the look Fili gave Balin out of the corner of his eyes and just barely held back from sighing. They were once a proud and noble race and they would be once more. He knew Balin's real fear though and Thorin feared it too. The gold sickness was always there, on the edges of his mind, reminding him of his grandfather's fall. He had promised himself and his sister before he left that he would keep himself and the boys from falling under its spell. No matter what, though, they would retake Erebor. Even if it meant he had to deal with a bunch of whiney elves first.