I do not own any of the characters or The Hobbit (just the AU storyline and my OC) Those are the work of the esteemed and brilliant John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, and without his genius, this and many other fan fics would not be in existence.

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Beorn looked down at the young dwarf with curiosity. The familial resemblance between the young one and the leader of the dwarves was immediately apparent, though this dwarf was far more startled than Oakenshield at their first meeting. The way Fili laid his hand protectively on his shoulder as he stared at the large man spoke volumes about their kinship as well, even if they did not resemble each other much. Beorn knew without a doubt that this was Thorin's missing nephew.

"So, the lost members of your company are alive," he said quietly, eyes taking in the bandages peeking out beneath the obviously too large tunic and wrapped around the young dwarf's arms. Glancing across the way, his gaze landed on the injured young woman, who did not stir as the hobbit placed another wet cloth across her forehead.

"Yes, against all hope," Gandalf said from behind him. Coming alongside Beorn, the wizard eyed the skinchanger cautiously, clearly nervous at his reaction to the startling news. "They were apparently the riders on the horse that the wargs were chasing last night, though I do not know how they survived the fall in the mountain." Beorn nodded, gaze resting on the young dwarf. Kili immediately moved to sit up, nodding to his brother as he tried to stop him from doing so.

"It's all right, Fili," he said quietly, before glancing warily up at the skinchanger. "Help me up."

The elder glanced up at the skinchanger, before nodding. Hooking his uninjured arm through his brother's, the two slowly rose to their feet. Kili immediately turned, attempting to bow at the waist, when a loud hiss escaped him. Face twisting in pain, the young dwarf stopped halfway in his task, gasping out the words even as Fili's eyes widened with concern.

"Kili, s-son of Dis, daughter o-of Thrain, at your ser-" the younger's voice was cut off as Beorn held up his hand.

"I have no need of your service," he responded, much like he had to the company a few days prior. The younger looked up in surprise, before turning toward his brother in confusion.

"This greeting must be part of dwarf culture, is it not?" Beorn asked, turning toward Thorin. The dwarf king nodded, moving to aid his nephew back down to the floor.

"Aye, it is," he said quietly, eyes roaming over the young dwarf with concern. "Kili, are you all right?"

Kili nodded, hand clutching his torso as he slowly breathed in and out.

"J-just put a little pressure on my ribs," he replied, and Thorin nodded. The elder began to slide his hand across the younger's torso, and Beorn understood.

His ribs must have been broken in their fall.

"Master Kili, how is it that you survived the fall in Goblin Town?" the skinchanger asked once they were sure that his ribs had not been dislocated. Several pair of eyes turned towards the young dwarf, though Beorn glanced sidelong at the wizard. "Your companions assured me that you and the young woman died in the mountains."

"We," Kili began, his mouth going dry at the skinchanger's piercing gaze. "We fell into a chasm out of their sight, but hit a ledge fairly quickly. We hit on one side, then the other, until we landed in an underground stream. It washed us out at the base of the mountain." Beorn nodded, crossing his arms across his chest.

"Is that when your ribs were broken?" he asked, and the younger nodded.

"Aye," Kili replied, coughing a bit. "We knew that if our company survived the goblin tunnels, they would head east, so we did as well in hopes of finding them."

"How did you know they would come to my house?" the large man asked, and Kili gestured toward the young woman.

"She overheard Gandalf mention something about you to Lord Elrond back in Rivendell," he replied. "And she said that you lived near the Carrock. We thought perhaps the company would head here, especially after we found the oakenshield on the way and saw it had bloodstains on it." The young dwarf swallowed heavily as he glanced at his uncle, before continuing.

"But the horse bolted after we crossed the Anduin. Wargs had been chasing us since dawn, and he was very spooked. We couldn't control him at all. He ended up coming to your house on his own." Beorn nodded.

"And where did you get the horse?" he asked. "Surely you do not expect me to believe that a saddled horse was waiting for you outside the goblin mountain."

"A woodswoman sold it to us," Kili replied, coughing once more.

"A woodswoman?" Beorn and Thorin asked at the same time, surprise in their tone.

"We were attacked by a lynx in the woods near their village, and I was badly injured. A child came upon us during the attack, and I managed to get her into a tree while Cira tried to find my knife. It flew out of my hands when the lynx pounced on me, but she couldn't find it so she used a branch instead to fight it off. She couldn't fight it anymore after we got into the tree because her hand is broken, so she threw the branch at the lynx and ran toward the tree. The woodswoman killed the lynx with an arrow and saved our lives. She took us to her home and helped Cira heal my wounds, and sold us the horse in exchange for saving her granddaughter."

The skinchanger did not miss the surprised look on Thorin's face at the response, and knew from rumors that dwarves were not kindly received by the woodsmen. Those he traded with told him many decades ago that the dwarves had come upon the woodsmen attempting to trade, and after one was killed during a fight for trying to steal a sheep, they had been banned from the woodsmen's villages.

"Who was it that took you in?" the skinchanger asked, locking eyes with the young dwarf. "The woodsmen have had no relations with dwarves for many, many long years, and do not trust your folk."

"The woodswoman's name was Meril," he replied, and Beorn's eyes flashed.

"You do not speak the truth!" He growled, causing the dwarves to freeze in place as they stared at him. "Meril's grandfather was the man killed by a dwarf the last time dwarves came into these vales, and the chieftain of the woodsmen banned all dwarves from ever coming into their villages again. She would never allow dwarves into her home, let alone help them!"

"I do speak the truth," Kili replied after a stunned silence. His eyes were wide, though there was no lie in them. Fili grasped the younger's arm as he stared up at the skinchanger, fear in his gaze even as he slowly moved closer to his brother. "She said that a dwarf killed her grandfather over a sheep, but that she misjudged me. She wanted to give us the horse so we could escape because the others in the village realized we were there and wanted to arrest us, but I offered to pay her for it because I would not take her horse without paying a fair price. She helped us because I saved Frieda's life!"

"Kee, don't," Fili whispered, before looking up at the skinchanger.

"Forgive him," he begged. "He was feverish this morning, and-" Kili held up his hand, stopping him before locking eyes with the skinchanger.

"My mind is clear," he stated. "I speak the truth, though you do not believe me. I do not know what proof of honesty I can offer you, except that my knife is still out there, as is the oakenshield. The scratches from the lynx attack are still upon my breast, its bitemarks on my arms, and Meril's stitching is still upon them unless Oin restitched them when I was asleep." The young dwarf shakily rose to his feet as he locked eyes with Beorn, oblivious to Thorin and Fili's attempts to stop him.

"You may kill me if you still believe my words to be false, but I will die an honest dwarf. Just please do not kill the others if your quarrel is with me."

Beorn was silent for a long moment as he looked at the young dwarf, but Kili's gaze did not yield. The company of dwarves held their breath, wide eyes locked on the large man even as they refused to move. Thorin and Fili both slowly rose alongside the young dwarf, but his gaze was unwavering. There was fear in the dark orbs, but courage as well. Few had shown such courage when faced with the skinchanger's wrath, and he slowly nodded.

"Very well," he replied. "As I told Gandalf before, I will check your story and that of your companions. I shall leave tonight after supper. Do not attempt to leave between now and then, and do not harm my animals.

"I will return in three days," he continued, turning to Thorin. "If you and your kin speak the truth, then I will give your company whatever you need to continue the quest. If not, you will not live to the eaves of the forest, and it will not be orcs that kill you." The large man turned back toward the young dwarf, who was now being supported by his elder brother as he leaned next to the stall wall, breathing a little more heavily than before though his eyes had not left the skinchanger.

"You have courage beyond your years," Beorn remarked, nodding to the young dwarf. "Few have dared to challenge me, and even less have survived doing so."

Beorn turned and moved toward his dining room, speaking quietly as he passed the wizard to avoid his voice carrying further than intended.

"Let us hope your friends speak the truth, for such courage should not be wasted on those with false intentions."

XXX

As soon as Beorn left his house to harvest honey with a few large crocks in tow, the company visibly let out a collective breath. Relief was evident on their faces as they went about their tasks.

"Kili, what were you thinking?" Fili asked as the young dwarf settled back down on his bedroll. "Why did you argue with him?"

"You could have risked our lives," Thorin added angrily, glancing at Fili. Kili could see that the confrontation had shaken him up, though it was very subtle. "Didn't your brother tell you that he turns into a giant bear when he's angry?"

"Aye," Kili said quietly, meeting his uncle's gaze. "Which is why I did it. He was angry the moment I told him that Meril helped us, and I knew that if I didn't give him some proof that I spoke the truth he would kill me, and possibly the rest of you as well. Everything I said was true, as he will find out when he checks our story. I simply told him where to look."

Thorin's eyes widened in shock as he stared at his nephew. The prince in him was evident to every single person in the stall, and the company members paused in their tasks as they stared at the young dwarf in surprise. He always deferred to Thorin, and when admonished, he would often visibly be ashamed if he believed to have failed his uncle. To those who had known him since he was a wee babe, he had always been a reckless, good-natured young dwarf who sought every available opportunity to provide mischief.

The Kili they saw before them now seemed to have matured into an heir of Durin within the span of two weeks, and it visibly startled them. There was a maturity, a confidence about him that had not been there before he had gotten separated from the group. Rather than being ashamed as Thorin chastised him, he met his gaze and calmly explained what he had done, and showed no remorse for it. Rather, he had shown courage and intelligent thought in his response to Beorn without hesitation. Balin nodded to the young prince, respect growing in his eyes.

A loud growl suddenly emanated from Kili's stomach, and the young prince blushed furiously as a few chuckles sounded through the stall.

"You sound like you swallowed a lion!" Bofur chuckled, shaking his head as the young prince flushed even more deeply.

"How about some breakfast for you, laddie?" Bombur asked, rising to his feet with a good natured smile. A sheepish grin spread across Kili's face, and he nodded.

"Aye, that sounds good," he replied.

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A response to guest reviewer Guest- I'm glad you liked it! I'm sorry, but I do seem to favor cliffhangers lol (maybe I like the way endings sound, maybe I want to make sure people keep reading- quite possibly both ;) I always hope I can update soon, but it does depend on my brain. When I'm sick, I can either focus really well or not at all :( I'm slowly feeling better, though my chest still hurts from the bronchitis (five and a half weeks and ten days of antibiotics later :V ), and my poor husband now has it and spent this weekend coughing up a lung, so to speak :( And he's had to trudge to work despite it because of inventory prep, so hasn't had the chance to really rest (he's a retail manager, so his schedule rotates and he rarely get weekends off). But I'm on the slow mend- thanks for asking! :)

A response to guest reviewer Ri-chan- I'm glad- I had a REALLY hard time not spoiling the answers to her in the guest review replies! I love reviews, and don't mind answering questions, but I know I have at least one blind reader who can't skip the replies because she can't see the difference in bold vs regular type and doesn't want to be spoiled so I have to be careful :) As to my illness- no, it's not chronic (not that one at least- I do have a digestive disorder that is, and that basically means I have bizarre food intolerances- my triggers are high fructose corn syrup (especially soda or drinks with that added, which I can't drink at all) and additives and preservatives in processed food, so I have to cook everything with whole, natural ingredients- not a bad thing per se, but America's food is so processed and so ingrained in our culture that it's almost impossible to eat at restaurants or even at other people's houses without having my stomach regret it even with medicine, and it hurts worse than labor in childbirth when attacks do happen :( The respiratory/lung thing is viral bronchitis that's taking forever to clear up because I got a nasty cold toward the end of it as well that set me back on recovery :( And I've been told that the effects of bronchitis stick around forever it seems- it takes a long time for the coughs and occasional wheezing when lying down to go away completely. Stress can also trigger my digestive disorder, and when my body's sick like this it can induce random attacks because your body is put under stress when sick in an effort to try and heal. I've had many days in the past five weeks where I rest, but it's stubbornly lingering on...better than it was though, and my lungs are clear :) But now my poor husband has it...

A response to guest reviewer Kaia- Don't worry- I will ;) And that's totally fine- I hope your curiosity will be assuaged soon :)

Thanks to all who review, favorite, and follow- you guys are wonderful! I love waking to so many reviews- it makes my day! :D :D :D