The Ranger ➵ Kili Durin

PART 2 : CHAPTER 1

12 MONTHS LATER

Elvira and the others waited below, resting on rocks as they watched Bilbo Baggins crawl quietly up a rock to spy on the orcs that were following them. Elvira reached for her water pouch and went to pour some into her mouth, but it was empty. She sighed and set it back down, only to look up and find another water jug near her face.

"Here, you need it more than I," the dark-haired prince said.

"No, I couldn't-"

Elvira," he said almost warningly, but the side of his mouth quirked up into a signature smirk that Elvira found she liked to see far more than she thought.

Elvira sighed again, but took it from him silently. She made sure to not to spill it anywhere, and she only took a sip before she gave it back. If they were running out of rations, she didn't want to be the cause of Kili not having any water.

The slipping and sliding of rocks was heard, and everyone perked up again when Bilbo came careening back down the side of the small mountain to meet the group.

"How close is the pack?" Dwalin asked him.

"Too close," Bilbo gasped. "A couple of leagues, no more. But that isn't the worst of it."

"Have the wargs picked up our scent?"

"Not yet, but they will. We have another problem," Bilbo kept trying to say.

"Did they see you? They saw you!" Gandalf exclaimed.

"Wh-no, no that's not it," he continued, but Gandalf smiled and said, "See? What did I tell you? Quiet as a mouse. Excellent burglar material," and all the dwarves chuckled appreciatively. Bilbo looked exhausted and annoyed that no one would listen to him. Elvira, however, noticed and said, "I think Bilbo has something else he would like to say." The group looked expectedly at Bilbo, and the young hobbit nodded appreciatively to the young Ranger, who smiled in return.

"There is something else out there." The dwarves' moods turned dark, and they began whispering to each other.

"What form did it take?" Gandalf asked, his voice grave. "Like a bear?"

"Y-yes, except bigger. Much bigger," Bilbo replied, slightly shaken and confused as to how Gandalf knew.

"You knew about this beast?" Bofur questioned the wizard, but Gandalf only looked at Elvira, who also knew exactly who it was Bilbo was talking about.

"I say we double back," Bofur suggested.

"And be run down by a pack of orcs," Thorin continued, proving that that option was not their best.

"There is a house," Gandalf said loudly, and the company turned to listen. "It's not far from here, where we might take refuge."

"Whose house? Are they friend or foe?" Thorin growled. He was tired of being led by Gandalf to seek refuge with people he didn't trust.

"Neither," Elvira's voice rang out, answering for the wizard. "He will help us, or he will kill us," she shrugged, her back leaning casually against a rock. She was much too calm about the situation for Thorin's liking.

"What choice do we have?" He asked the group. A loud, spine-chilling roar echoed against the rocks, startling each member of the company at the sound.

"None," Gandalf muttered, and that was all the company needed to hear.

They ran through the forest at top speed, trying to make it to the safehouse before the bear creature or the orc pack caught sight or smell of them. They ran through the plains, a dark house in the distance that was quickly coming closer. They reached the entrance to the property just as a great, bearlike creature broke through the treeline. Bombur reached the door first, crashing directly into it and falling onto the ground. Kili and Fili reached the door next, and began pounding on the wood to try and open it.

Elvira had fallen behind to run beside Bilbo in order to make sure the young hobbit didn't get caught behind. Thorin was in front of them, and upon reaching the door, he managed to tug at the latch and open the door. The company barrelled in, and turned right around to close it again, but a large snout was holding the door open. It growled and sneered while the dwarves used force to push the door closed. Elvira stood and watched, panting, next to Gandalf. The young Ranger hated seeing her friend in such a state, but sighed in relief when the door finally closed and locked, and the growling got more distant as the creature walked away from the house.

"What is that?" Ori asked in shock and awe.

"That," Gandalf breathed, "is our host." The rest of the company looked at him in fear and bewilderment, and Elvira just smiled towards the ground.

"His name is Beorn, and he is a skin-changer."

Elvira noticed the dwarves' looks of confusion, so she continued for the wizard, saying, "Sometimes, he's a huge black bear; sometimes he is a great, strong man. The bear is unpredictable."

"But, the man can be reasoned with," Gandalf finished. "However, he's not overly fond of dwarves. Alright now," he said again, "get some sleep. All of you will be safe here for the night, I hope." He whispered the last part, but Elvira heard him, as did Bilbo. Bilbo turned to the woman in fear, but she shook her head and smiled, trying to make him feel better as they all went to lay down to rest.

Morning came quickly, and Elvira was awake before the rest of the company. She walked to the kitchen to see Beorn, pouring great big cups of milk and setting them on the table.

"Hello, young ranger," his voice rang out, without turning around. The Ranger smiled.

"Hello Beorn."

"I must apologize, for last night. I hope I didn't injure anyone," he turned around. Elvira shook her head. "We are the trespassers, Beorn. You were simply protecting your home from intruders. It is understandable."

He hummed in response. "Tell me, Elvira Valnir, what is it you have been up to all these years? It has been quite some time since we've last met."

For an hour, Elvira and Beorn sat in the kitchen and spoke with one another. They spoke of their past, of Elvira, and of his life after freedom. One by one, the dwarves began to wake and creep into the kitchen warily, coming to a stop when they saw the giant of a man standing before them. But Beorn paid no attention to it, and invited them to sit and eat, which they gladly complied with.

"So you are the one they call Oakenshield. Tell me, why is Azog the Defiler hunting you?" Beorn asked when everyone was awake.

"You know of Azog? How?" Thorin replied.

"My people were the first to live in the mountains," the skin-changer recalled. "Before the orcs came down from the North. The Defiler killed most of my family, but some he enslaved." Kili noticed Elvira grimace, and looked at her curiously.

Beorn continued. "Not for work, you understand, but for sport. Caging skin-changers and torturing them seemed to amuse him."

"There are others like you?" Bilbo asked, his voice full of curiousity.

"Once, there were many."

"And now?"

"Now," he said solemnly, "now there is only one." Silence overtook them before Bilbo's voice rang out once more.

"S-so how do you and Elvira know each other?" He asked, looking back at the ranger. The rest of the dwarves were curious about this as well, and eager to hear the response.

"Beorn and I were being kept by Azog at the same time. Our cells were beside each other, and we became friends in that dungeon," she faintly smiled at him, and Beorn smiled back. Fili nudged his brother, who had been scowling at the skin-changer for quite some time now.

"Elvira helped me escape Azog's clutches the day the Rangers came," he said, as he poured more milk into large cups. Beorn quickly changed subjects, understanding that it was a delicate topic for he and Elvira.

"You need to reach the mountain before the last days of autumn?"

"Before Durin's Day falls, yes," Gandalf replied, coming out of his silence.

Beorn seemed to ponder this before he said, "you are running out of time."

"Which is why we must go through Mirkwood," the wizard said. Elvira's head snapped up. Mirkwood was one of the one places she did not want to go, and only now did she realize just how close they actually were to the elven kingdom there.

"A darkness lies upon that forest," Elvira muttered.

"She is right," Beorn said. "Foul 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."

"Well then, we will take the Elven road. Their path is still safe."

"Safe?" Beorn shook his head. "The wood-elves of Mirkwood are not their kin. They are less wise and more dangerous, but it matters not."

"What do you mean?" Thorin growled, obviously displeased with the idea of more elves.

"These lands are crawling with orcs. Their numbers are growing, and you are on foot. Your company will never reach the forest alive."

"We cannot go around," Elvira shook her head.

"I don't like dwarves," Beorn growled lowly. Each and every pair of eyes was set on him, questioning his next moves. "They're greedy and blind, blind to the lives of those they deem lesser than their own." Not a sound was heard, as Beorn picked up a small, white mouse from the table and held it tightly in his hand.

"Oh durin," Kili muttered under his breath, thinking the skin-changer was planning on eating it. Elvira looked at him, and then looked back to Beorn. She knew the giant well enough to know that he would never do such a thing.

"But orcs I hate more. What do you need?" and Beorn smiled, as collective breaths of relief were taken throughout the room.

After breakfast ended, Beorn led the company to the stables, where each dwarf took a pony to ride.

"Young Ranger," Beorn called her over to a separate stable. Elvira jogged over to him and stood before the tall man, looking up.

"This horse, I am told, belonged to you." Out of the stable came the dark colored horse, so black it was almost blue. She gasped as her stolen mare came over quickly, recognizing her and letting her pet his mane softly.

"Le hannon, Beorn," she said, thanking him in Elvish. He nodded in return.

"Does he have a name?" Beorn asked her. She thought for a moment.

"Celestial," Elvira replied quietly, smiling. The horse shook his head and whinnied, seemingly happy with his new title. Celestial, like the stars in the night sky, for his color was so dark it was almost blue.
She led her horse outside to meet with the rest, and Kili grinned upon seeing the Ranger reunited with her own horse.

"Does he have a name yet?" Kili asked, laughing as the horse happily met him as well.

"I've just named him. He is Celestial," she said, and smiled once more, looking over at Kili, and all at once, she realized that the horse's color was the same as Kili's cloak, and she smiled even wider.

Beorn came walking out of the stables a short time later. "Go now, while you still have the light."

"Thank you Beorn," Gandalf said, and they parted ways. Each of the dwarves nodded to him as they mounted their ponies and began to gallop towards the plains. Elvira paused next to Beorn.

"It was good to see you, nin mellon," she smiled.

"The same to you, young Ranger. May your journey be free from the harsh circumstances we seem to be fleeing from." And at this, Elvira brought Celestial to a gallop, and they rode after the rest of the company towards the border of the Mirkwood forest.

OOOOHHHH BOYYY THINGS ARE ABOUT TO GO DOWN

WHOS EXCITED

I AM

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em