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.
Please review, favorite and follow- I love them, especially constructive ones! They keep me encouraged and make me a better writer, so if you like something please specify what, and if you don't please tell me so I can modify as needed. Thank you! :)
Cirashala wasn't quite sure what was happening. She could see the white shores at her feet, feel the sand beneath her toes, and watch the azure, pristine water lap up against her ankles. The sky above was such a clear blue, and the sun shone like a multifaceted gem in the sky.
But suddenly, the sky began to darken. The feeling of the sea at her feet was replaced by a slightly burning pain searing up from her back. The sounds of the gulls upon the shore began to fade, as did the beautiful land she'd come to wander for a countless number of days. The white, smooth flowing gown that she'd worn suddenly felt coarse and rough.
Slowly her ears began to discern the strange sounds around her. The sound of gulls cawing turned into murmured whispers, though she could barely make out the words amidst the rushing sound in her ears. Her mouth felt parched, as though she hadn't partaken of the glorious spring of water in the gently flowing meadow during her time in the beautiful land. Groaning again, she managed to shift her body to the side, before slowly cracking her eyes open.
Blinking as the light of a candle suddenly blinded her, she slowly began to make out the forms of several large shadows huddled around her. Not shadows, she soon realized, but dwarves.
"-ra? Cira? Are you awake, lassie?" Balin's gentle voice suddenly became clear, and she blinked again stupidly, before her eyes finally began to focus in the now-dim light. She nodded at the older dwarf, who was kneeling next to her, and opened her mouth to speak, but her tongue felt like sandpaper and her words were garbled.
A small, carved cup suddenly graced her lips, and she opened her mouth to receive the cool water. Swallowing, she tried again.
"B-Balin?" she whispered, her tongue seeming rather heavy. The old dwarf nodded.
"Aye, lassie," he said quietly. "I'm here, and so is everyone else. You gave us quite a scare." Brow furrowing in confusion, she slowly turned her head around, noticing that almost everyone in the company surrounded her.
"Wh-what happened?" she murmured, her mind still unable to determine what was real and what had been a dream.
"You fainted," a voice stated behind her. Shifting onto her back with a wince, she looked into Bilbo's concerned eyes. "Right after you got here."
Memories suddenly assaulted her, of leaving Meril's house to avoid being arrested, riding Deloth through the pitch black forest, the warg chase, Kili nearly drowning-
"K-Kili?" she asked worriedly, eyes searching for him amidst the group.
"I'm here." The young dwarf gently pushed his way through Bofur and Bombur, concerned eyes roaming over her face.
"Yes, you are both here," Balin replied. "Safe and sound, more or less." She nodded, whimpering again as she shifted.
"Cira," Kili asked. She turned back toward him, confused at the sudden fierce protectiveness in his eyes. "Are you out of your mind?! Why in Durin's name didn't you tell me your wounds were infected?!" Her eyes widened in shock at his sudden outburst.
"Y-you were sick," she whispered weakly, causing his eyes to widen, as well as several others. "I-I had to-to get you to Oin. H-his medicine...I had to get...you here." Her head fell back into the pillow behind it, breathing heavily at the exertion as thirteen dwarves and a hobbit stared wide eyed in shock. Kili's jaw dropped, before his eyes sparked.
"Cira, I would have cleaned them, medicine or not!" he replied angrily, though his gaze was obviously very worried. "I'd rather die than see you succumb to infection on my accou-" he began, but Fili's hand on his shoulder stopped him.
"Cira," Thorin spoke up, causing her gaze to move towards him at the foot of her bed. His expression was dead serious. "I don't care if it is only a scratch- if you have an infected wound, you need to tell us. Infection is not something to be trifled with!"
"You could have died, lass," Dwalin added from beside the dwarf king, his expression stern and foreboding.
"And you almost did," Oin added sternly. "Thorin is absolutely correct. You cannot allow an infection to become worse. It's honestly a miracle you're still with us at all, and you can thank Beorn and Gandalf for that. Without his honey and Gandalf's healing spells, you would most certainly be dead." Cira shrunk back in her pillow, the stern glares of the company boring into her.
"B-but...why would you care?" she whispered after a moment, surprised at the angry but worried looks of the others. "I'm not even...a dwarf."
"You're one of us," Nori replied matter of factly, causing several wide eyed stares to turn toward him. Cirashala's jaw dropped, the young woman completely stunned at the friendly nod coming from the former thief.
"Aye, you are," Thorin confirmed, nodding his head to her as well. Kili and Fili smiled, as did several of the others.
"And we look after each other," Gloin added, gently placing his hand on her shoulder.
"That's right, lass," Dwalin replied, respect showing in his eyes. "Even if one of us is being incredibly stupid and foolish." He looked at her pointedly, causing a slight flush of embarrassment to crawl up her cheeks.
"Speaking of which," Oin interjected. The old healer rose to his feet, before turning toward the rest of the company. "Off to bed with you all! It's the middle of the night, for Durin's sake!
"And you," he continued, turning toward the young woman. "You need your rest, young lady, if you are going to get well before we have to leave." His expression bore no argument, and the young woman nodded. Shifting again, she visibly winced, and his expression softened.
"What's wrong, lassie?" he asked gently, crouching down beside her as the others began to head for their bedrolls.
"H-hurts," she gasped. The healer's brow furrowed in confusion.
"What's that, lass?" he asked. "The damn goblins flattened my ear trumpet."
"SHE SAID IT HURTS, you old coot!" Gloin shouted in his brother's ear, rolling his eyes even as the healer jumped at the sudden outburst. Shooting a glare at his younger brother, who simply rolled his eyes, the old healer turned back toward her.
"I will find you some herbs for the pain," he said gently, clasping her shoulder before rising to his feet.
"Um, Mister Oin?" she asked as loudly as her dry throat was able. The healer turned back toward her, and she flushed a bit at the request she needed to make.
"Uh, w-where is the, uh," she stammered, refusing to make eye contact. "The...outhouse?" The dwarves looked back toward her, eyes wide as they began to look between each other, before Gloin stepped back over to the side of her bed.
"I'll take you lassie," he said gently. The others continued to lie down, relief evident in their faces as the red haired dwarf reached down to her arm.
"Do you think you can stand?" he asked, and she shook her head.
"I-I don't know," she replied honestly, her voice very weak to her ears. "I'm really...dizzy."
The dwarf nodded, before gently reaching under her shoulders and knees.
XXX
Gandalf yawned and headed back to his bed. Watching as the red haired dwarf carried the young woman out to the outhouse, his mind began to think about the riddle he'd solved.
I will have to talk to her when she is a bit better, he thought to himself as he eyed her pale face and the dark circles under her exhausted eyes. She's still very weak, though awake. Unfortunately, she will have to manage her pain with Oin's herbs from here on out, as I've done all I can.
His gaze wandered out the window, where the moon stood high in the sky, illuminating all beneath it.
Beorn will be back in three days, he thought grimly. I know Kili wouldn't lie, but I do sincerely hope that he finds his knife so Kili's story can be confirmed, else we could be in for a great deal of trouble when he returns.
The soft sound of crickets chirping outside the window met his ears, and the wizard yawned again.
I should take Oin's advice myself, he thought, chuckling slightly as he lay back down on Beorn's large bed, which the skinchanger had granted him while he was away. For it is sound advice, even for a wizard.
XXX
Beorn sniffed along the ground, quickly finding the lynx carcass in the woods. It was not difficult for the large bear to sniff out blood, even old.
The knife should be in the bushes around here somewhere, the skinchanger thought. If young Kili was telling the truth, that is.
He began to shapeshift, knowing that he needed manual dexterity to be able to hunt for the blade. Bones cracked and muscles popped as the great man made the transformation. Breathing heavily when he was done, he picked up the trousers and vest he'd been carrying in his bear-mouth for this very reason and donned them. Looking around the clearing, his eyes spotted the dark earth where the dwarf had been attacked.
Scooping up a bit of the soil in his hand, the great man sniffed its contents. The blood was old and congealed, but the metallic scent still clung to the earth and was evident to even his man-nose. Dumping the dirt back onto the ground, his sharp eyes made out the footprints in the bright moonlight. Brow furrowing in thought, he traced back both the lynx's paw prints and the footprints of the pair until he knew which angle the lynx had hit the young dwarf.
Standing in the direction the lynx had been facing when it jumped on Kili, the great man eyed the surrounding vegetation. Beorn was no stranger to the strength of an animal's pounce, though he knew that his own bear-strength far outweighed that of the significantly smaller lynx. And he had been able to tell immediately upon their first meeting that the young dwarf was right handed, given his archer's glove, therefore the knife would have been in his right when the lynx charged him.
Moving toward where he believed the blade to have flown, the great man began to search through the bushes. It was time consuming, arduous work, for the leaves of many autumns littered the ground and obscured the forest floor.
Suddenly, the moonlight glinted off of a shiny object at the base of a thorny bush. Growling to himself as the sharp tines scratched his arm, the skinchanger reached down and ran his fingers over the metal. The blade felt cool to the touch, but he was able to tell that it was double edged. One fine and straight, the other cerrated like a saw. Quickly locating the strung grip, the large man picked it up and stood to his feet.
Setting both the knife and his clothing back on the ground, the large man began to shapeshift once again into the form of a bear. Once complete, the large beast sniffed the knife carefully, relying on his bear sense of smell to tell him where the knife had been. His keen nose picked up the scent of dwarf immediately, but there was also the faint scent of human coupled with the scent of goblin lingering in the woolen string on the grip, and the great beast growled.
They were definitely in Goblin Town, he thought to himself. It is very faint, but this blade reeks of their filth.
The skinchanger had been told privately by Gandalf what the dwarves told him had transpired in the Goblin Tunnels, and Beorn knew that the knife that was Kili's had been used against the young woman. The scents on the small blade confirmed that story, but there was still one detail that he needed to check before he continued on with his journey.
I need to linger here until dawn, and see if Meril can confirm what the young dwarf said. I truly hope he was speaking the truth.
The skinchanger could not help the doubt that ran through his mind, given whom he had said sold them the horse, but he had sensed no lie in the young dwarf's countenance. He was greatly perplexed, and it was a feeling he was quite unaccustomed to.
Dawn will reveal the truth, and then I will verify Gandalf's tale.
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A response to guest reviewer Guest: Thanks :) I am trying to do so! I am hoping to make Sundays my update day, as the rest of the week is fairly busy for us. But if I can squeak in an update mid-week, more the better! But it's going to be tough enough trying to stick to Sundays, as I've never imposed a schedule before, but I hope to utilize them as writing days. Fingers crossed, as I stated above :)
A response to guest reviewer Ri-chan- I'm glad :) Siblings- can't live with them, can't live without them ;) Fili and Kili DO fight, for sure- in fact, they can have epic rows! All siblings do, even the close ones. But they are still best friends and confidantes, and would walk over hot coals for each other if they needed to! And yes, sweets can put a smile on my face ;) Thank you for the greetings- I'll be sure to pass it onto my family :)
A response to guest reviewer Guest- You are very welcome! I hope this chapter was satisfactory :) And yes, I am feeling better. I'm back on a medication that has some irritating/annoying side effects, but it is FAR preferable to ending up in the hospital, that's for sure!
A response to guest reviewer redhouseclan- You're welcome! I hope this chapter warrants me being forgiven for the cliffhanger ;) I will try to update at least every Sunday, but my stubborn brain actually cooperated and I managed to work this chapter out in the shower yesterday (I daydream in the shower, as it's a rare alone time for me- when and if you have small kids, you'll understand lol ;), so here's to brains working! :D
Thanks to all who review, favorite, and follow- especially constructive praise/criticism reviews- they make me a better writer :D :D :D