Complicated (Thorin Oakenshield x Reader) [Slow Updates]

Chapter Nineteen

Thump-thump-thump-thump

All she can hear is her heart pounding in her ears and the crashing and roaring of the creature following them as they run, emerging from the forest into a massive clearing. She notices as Bifur trips a few yards ahead of her, and she drags him to his feet by the shoulders as she passes, not slowing her pace. The adrenaline has truly kicked in now, and it's taking all of her willpower not to skin-change right then and there, leaving them in the dust.

"RUN!!" Gandalf shouts, urging them all onward from the front of the pack. Bombur seems to heed his words, as the hulking Dwarf somehow overtakes the rest of them. Even amidst the panic, heads turn in wonderment at the sight.

The house that Gandalf spoke of is now well within sight, and the group soon makes it through the overgrown gate, Gandalf stopping there to usher everyone through. She slows, following his gaze out to the tree line - she does not like what she sees. Erupting from the trees with a crash, the black-furred beast is charging at them full-force. (E/C) eyes widening, (Y/N) rushes to catch up with the others, Gandalf alongside her, only to find them pounding at a closed door.

"OPEN THE DOOR," Gandalf cries, eyes wide. (Y/N) turns around once more, only to see that the gargantuan creature is already halfway through the clearing, bearing down on them. Taking a shaky breath, she stays at the back of the pack. Worse comes to worst, I can skin-change, but I do hope it doesn't come to that . . . I don't think I'd make it out alive, she thinks anxiously. She turns to look at the group, only to see Thorin push his way to the front of the group.

"QUICKLY!" he hollers, moving toward the door with haste. He reaches up, lifting the latch on the door that the others had somehow missed. In a wave, the whole company clamors in through the doors, Gandalf and her slipping through as the creature is bearing down on them. The others all rush to slam the doors closed behind the two, but not nearly in time - the beast wedges its head in the doorway, roaring maw gnashing at the dwarves as they fought to overpower the beast.

"PUSH!!!" the Dwarves cry. (Y/N) whips around as she makes it in, morphing into her feline form and joining them, throwing her weight against the door.

"Come on, lads!" Dwalin shouts, and, in one last push, they manage to close the door, barring it with a wooden plank. They all seem to sigh in relief at once. Hoorah for making it another day, (Y/N) thinks to herself in exasperation, shifting back into her humanoid form. Ori turns around, a tremble lingering in his voice as he addresses Gandalf.

"What is that?!" he quavers. Gandalf looks down at him, face still pale.

"That is our host."

(Y/N) raises her eyebrows, eyes full of question. He couldn't mean . . .

"His Name is Beorn . . . and he, too, is a skin-changer," the wizard states, looking down at her with a smile. Her jaw drops.

"There . . . there are more of us?" she breathes, hardly believing her ears. After the loss of Annabelle, she'd all but come to terms with being the last of her race, and now Gandalf was telling her there's another?

~~~~

As (Y/N) lies on a heap of hay in Beorn's home, trying her darnedest to fall asleep, she recalls what the old wizard had told her.

"Although you may be the last remaining skin-changer of your tribe, as you no doubt know, it was only one of two. Beorn is the last descendant of the southern tribe, and, hence, his transformations are more physical in nature, less within his control. The transformations of the northern tribe, from which you hail, are of a more magical nature."

She hadn't believed her ears. In fact, she still doubts them as she stares at the rafters, desperately chasing a sleep that stubbornly evades her. She remembers Galdalf saying that this "Beorn" was not overly fond of Dwarves, but even despite that, she finds herself more than eager to meet the man . . . the last man in all of Middle-Earth that was like her.

Through the ambient sounds of bleating sheep and snoring Dwarves, she hears a shuffling sound near her. Although she's not sure why, her eyes flutter closed, and she pretends to be fast asleep. That doesn't seem to be fooling anyone, though, and she feels a familiar weight settle down on the hay bed beside her.

"What's keeping you up?" Thorin asks, a hushed tone to his gravelly voice. (Y/N) smiles despite herself, eyes opening to meet his steel blue ones.

"Am I really that transparent?"

"Well, I have been hearkening to the sounds of your tossing and turning for the last few hours, so I could only assume you were still awake," he says, tone alight with humor. She chuckles, a small smile tugging at her lips.

"You got me there . . . I just can't stop thinking about it, I guess. Another skin-changer? After what happened with . . . with Azog, I had all but accepted the fact that I was alone," she says wistfully.

Thorin's brow furrows at this.

"I do hope that you do not consider yourself alone among us," he said, though it sounded more like a question than a statement. She shook her head.

"No, of course not, that's not what I meant in the least. I only meant that I'd figured there were no more of my kind out there, and yet here we are, in the home of the last of my lot. It's quite a bit to take in . . ." she trails off, not sure what else to say.

He hums in acknowledgement at her words, and for a moment they just sit there in silence, the idle sounds of crickets and farm animals filling the air. Soon, she feels herself begin to nod off, eyes drifting closed. Just before sleep takes her, she feels a calloused hand entwine with hers, squeezing softly.

"Rest well, ghivashel~"