Skin Changer : A Hobbit FanFiction (Discontinued)

It Did

Ilma stood, stretching under the morning sun. She’d managed to sneak out of Rivendell after her conversation with the Dwarf King, just narrowly escaping a summons to the “Guardian’s Meeting”. Ugh. She knew her place in the world, and most certainly did not need a group of old men to tell her how to stay in it. The trees were her concern, just as men were Gandalf’s and the elves were Elrond’s, and it was high time she found out what was making them ill. She sat back down on the branch where she’d spent the night, silently thanking the tree for letting her sleep in it. The sound of clashing metal reached her ears from below, and she looked down, surprised.

There, at the base of the tree, was the group of dwarves she had left behind in Rivendell.  She smiled.

“Hail, dwarves!” She shouted down to them, laughing when they jumped to their feet. “Up here!”

They looked up and Ilma waved before making her way down. As  soon her feet hit the ground, she found herself surrounded by dwarves, all clamoring for her attention. Thorin made his way to the front of the group, his face drawn into its usual scowl.

“Why are you following us, woman?”

Ah, so she’d managed to keep her promotion. Wonderful. “Ah, dear Oakenshield, I hate to correct you, but you,” her finger hovered over his nose, close enough to feel his warmth, “are following me. I left before you did,” she added, drawing her hand back to tuck her hair behind her ear. “So this is merely a pleasant coincidence for us to start the day with.”

His scowl didn’t lessen as he turned and left her with his men, and she didn’t bother to hide her smile.

“You have no supplies, lass,” said one dwarf - Bombur - in surprise.

“Anything I need the land will provide,” she replied, smiling up at the tree who’d given her sanction.

“How do you cut your meat?” One of the younger ones asked, and she noted his resemblance to their leader.

“She’s an elf, Kili,” his blond counterpart scolded, hitting him over his head. “They don’t eat meat.”

The brothers began squabbling amongst themselves, and they were unceremoniously shoved from the ring surrounding the woman.

“Why did you leave?” A soft voice asked, and she looked down at Bilbo. “Rivendell, I mean. I thought you’d be thrilled to finally be among your own people.”

Ilma snorted. “Those stuffy old fools? No, thank you.”

“Where were you headed?” Asked a dwarf with a strange looking hat. “If you weren’t following us, as you claim you weren’t.”

What a suspicious lot. “I was planning on finding whatever’s making the Greenwood sick. If I can eliminate it at its source, the forest should be free to start healing.”

The dwarf’s gaze softened as he smiled. “You truly care for your trees, don’t you lass?”

“Of course, I do; they’ve always cared for me, it’s only natural I do the same.”

“Will you be traveling with us, then?” Bilbo asked, his expression hopeful.

“No,” Thorin interjected from across the camp, drawing everyone’s attention. “We cannot allow any distractions from our quest.”

Ilma smiled again, just because she knew it annoyed him. “You’re right, of course. And there’s no telling when we might part ways.” She looked down the road longingly before turning back to Thorin. “Although, there is safety in numbers.”

“No.”

She pouted, “Fine, I’ll go. But, if it happens again, I get to stay.”

“It won’t.”

 -

It did.

Thorin glared up at the woman in the tree above their camp. She’d made herself known to the Company while he was off speaking with Balin about how to make up for their lack of ponies. When they’d returned to camp, they’d found her hanging upside down from a low branch, her hair dangerously close to the fire. Now, she sat having a hushed conversation with Fili and Kili, her eyes dangerously bright.

She was as bad as they were.

“Will you let her travel with us?” Balin asked, and Thorin crossed his arms over his chest.

“She will leave us when our paths divide.” He said, pulling at his beard in thought. “In the mean time, she may prove a needed distraction.”

Balin nodded, “It is nice to see them smile again, isn’t it?”

Thorin hummed in agreement as his nephews burst into laughter as the elfmaid finished her story. She clapped her small hands in delight, looking for all the world like a small child playing with her favorite toy. Sighing, he shouted over the din of conversation.

“We turn in now if we are to rise with first light!” A collective groan of disappointment met his ears and he scowled. “I will take first watch.”

Balin nodded, moving to join the rest of the Company.

“I’ll join you.” He nearly jumped as the woman spoke beside him, her smile wide and unassuming. “We could use some bonding time, you and me.”

He snorted derisively. “I do not need your help, elf.”

Her eyes widened and her mouth fell open. “I thought we were past that!”

Thorin turned away from her, fully intending to leave her with the camp, but her footsteps followed him, and he sighed.