Hello again! I have returned! So Desolation of Smaug has begun and we are getting further forward towards LE BIG REVEAL! So prepare to see some 'subtle' advances in terms of trust… if my writing is adequate for such nuances. I hope you are all enjoying the story! And remember: I don't own the Hobbit! Please read the Author's Note at the bottom, I have a question for all of you BECAUSE READER INPUT IS IMPORTANT TO ME!

Sindarin

Khuzdul

Hobbitish

…

Leaving the Carrock behind them, Bilbo and the Company sprinted as fast as possible away from the source of the roar. Falling back so as not to appear too sprightly, Bilbo fell into pace with Sago and Ren. "Treated?" He asked, nodding towards Ren. Ren looked as if she was about to roll her eyes, "Father I am perfectly capable of treating myself. Besides, the Elven healing techniques of Lord Elrond worked just as they were supposed to. In other words, I'm fine." Bilbo huffed slightly, fully prepared to say that he KNOWS she can take care of herself but he's her father and he is perfectly within his rights to worry about her and he's not making her out as a damsel in distress but she was injured by an orc and wounds do take time to heal. He was about to speak when they were all surprised by the rotund figure of Bombur, running past at breakneck speed, heading directly for a large cottage. Sago sighed "Beorn?" Bilbo swallowed thickly and nodded. Sago shook his head, "Oh we are in so much trouble."

If it is obvious a door is locked, do not keep slamming into it! He was surprised that none of the company had broken bones through their frantic charge at Beorn's front door. However, when they had finally tumbled inside, very rudely slamming the door in Beorn's furry face in the process, Bilbo had to restrain himself from slapping Gandalf as the wizard proudly declared the skinchanger to be their host. Host, as any Hobbit knows, implies hospitality and welcome, two things this particular 'host' clearly lacked.

At least the hay was comfy to sleep on. Bilbo was determined to remain vigilant… but it was so soft and he was so tired… oops. He had woken up once in the middle of the night to see Beorn enter through the front door, but as the shapeshifter made no move to commit either Hobbit or Dwarficide he decided to let himself relax back into peaceful slumber.

He awoke once more to the buzzing of some abnormally large bees around his head, and his children's cheerful faces at his feet. Blearily he walked to the kitchen where the rest of the company sat around a large table, spreading golden honey onto thick slices of bread as the skin changer poured creamy milk into large tankards. Animals wandered throughout the rooms, as much a part of the home as the furniture. Everything was supersized. The table was the size of two Hobbits standing on each other's shoulders, and the chairs only a few units off of that. Even the animals were larger than normal, which was both disturbing and fascinating to Bilbo, who suddenly felt very small compared to the giant standing across the table. In all honesty, it was a wonder he managed to get onto his chair. Accepting some bread from Bofur, he leant back to listen as Beorn spoke with Thorin.

"So," he rumbled with a voice deeper than the ocean, " you are the one they call Oakenshield. Tell me, why is Azog the Defiler hunting you?" Thorin straightened from where he sat, staring at Beorn with that piercing blue-eyed gaze of his. "You know of Azog? How?" Bilbo was going to keep silent but he felt that he had to speak up against Thorin's blinding ignorance as to the fame of his arch-nemesis. "Thorin," he said, "I don't think there's a soul in Arda who hasn't heard a whisper of Azog. Even Hobbits have overheard rumors of the white Orc and his deeds." Beorn turned, looking appraisingly at Bilbo… turned out that he hadn't actually noticed the Hobbit was there until he spoke. The skinchanger nodded slowly, "My people were the first to live in the mountains, before the Orcs came down from the north. The Defiler killed most of my family, but some he enslaved. Not for work, you understand, but for sport. Caging skin-changers and torturing them seemed to amuse him." The pity that welled up within Bilbo was immense. He imagined how horrible that life would have been for Beorn, and completely understood why he now secluded himself from the world. His sharp eyes had already located the manacles that remained locked around his wrists. However, he also pitied Azog, for the Orc had told him of how he regretted what he had been forced to do under Sauron's control, but seeing the extent of the suffering he had wrought was devastating.

He didn't have to ask to know that Beorn was the only skinchanger left.

Beorn looked back at Thorin and Gandalf. "You need to reach the mountain before the last days of autumn."

Gandalf nodded, "Before Durin's Day falls, yes."

"You are running out of time."

"Which is why we must go through Mirkwood."

What an awful idea. Thorin looked as though he would rather bury himself in Dragon dung than go through a forest 'infested' with Elves. He would do it though, for Erebor. In Bilbo's opinion, the chances of them not running into Elves were slim. "A darkness lies upon that forest," Beorn grumbled. "Fell things creep beneath those trees. There is an alliance between the Orcs of Moria and The Necromancer in Dol Guldur. I would not venture there, except in great need." Bilbo shivered. A darkness in the forest. Hobbits were naturally attuned to nature, it was in their blood as creatures of Yavanna; he could only imagine how horrible walking through the forest was going to be for himself, Ren and Sago. "We will take the Elven Road, their path is still safe," Gandalf replied wisely. Beorn looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Safe? The Wood Elves of Mirkwood are not like their kin. They're less wise," Bilbo stifled a snort, "and more dangerous. But it matters not."

Thorin cocked his head. "What do you mean?" Beorn looked at the table before him, "These lands are crawling with Orcs, their numbers are growing and you are on foot. You will never reach the forest alive." Oh well that is just fabulous, spectacular, wonderful. Such good prospects await the company in the dark forest. Beorn's eyes acquired a distant look, as if his glazed expression was due to his view of something far away. He lowered his massive hand to let a mouse scramble over his fingers. "I don't like dwarves," he mused, "they're greedy and blind, blind to the lives of those they deem lesser than their own." Some of the Dwarrow stiffened. Beorn raised his head. "But Orcs I hate more." He looked directly at Thorin.

"What do you need?"

…

Well on that lovely note, we finish! This won't be the end of Beorn as I am going to be adding some more scenes that weren't in the movie that I felt like adding… this is an AU after all! SO QUESTION TIME! As my lovely readers (though I fear I may have lost lots of you after my long absence) I wish for your opinions! Mirkwood is approaching so I ask you, how far do you think that Kili and Tauriel should progress? This will be a happy ending in which our Durins are not deceased, so should Kiliel be a thing? Let me know what you think and I will make a tally, we only have about 2 chapters until the Elves' flamboyant entrance.

FallohideDragon