Hello to the Desolation of Smaug
Astrid's POV
I'm sharpening my axe while I waited with the others for Bilbo to return from his scouting mission. I would of gone also. But Gandalf said it was easier for one person to go unnoticed then two. So here I am on a log sharpening my axe with Fili's sharpening rock. I'd lost mine during the escape from Goblin town. So he allowed me to use his.
As I finished sharpening Bilbo returns and I stand up handing Fili his sharpening rock back. "How close is the pack?" Dwalin asks Bilbo.
"Too close.A couple of leagues, no more, but that is notthe worst of it" Bilbo tells us.
"Did the wargs pick up our scent?" I ask him worried.
"Not yet, but they will; we have another problem" Bilbo answers.
"Did they see you?" Gandalf asks him.
"No, that's not it" Bilbo states. Gandalf then smiles at the dwarves. Tell them how he was right about Bilbo being as quiet as a mouse. "Will you listen- Will you just listen? I'mtrying to tell you there is something else out there" Bilbo tells us.
"What form did it take? Like a bear?" Gandalf asked him. Bilbo said yes, but much bigger.
"You knew about this beast?" Bofur asks him.
"And you let my cousin go scout alone?" I ask annoyed. It was decided we'd go to a house near by that Gandalf knows about. The owner could help us or kill us. We run out onto a plain and Gandalf told us to run faster as a house comes into view. A roar is head behind us and Bombur takes the lead.
"Come on, get inside" Gandalf tells us. Bombur runs through the open gate and tries to ram the door down. But he just bounces off into the others. I unlatch the door and we all bolt inside the house. We try to slam the door shut, but the bear has already gotten its head in thedoor. As the bear roars and tries to push the door open, the dwarves yell andstrain to close it. Bilbo pulls out his sword and points it unsteadily at thebear as I raise my sharpened axe.
The dwarves got the door shut and locked. "What was that?" Dori asks. Gandalf said to was out host and I look at him shocked. I thought skin-changers were extinct.
"His name is Beorn, and he is a skin-changer" Gandalf states."Sometimes he's a huge black bear; sometimes he'sa great strong man. The bear is unpredictable, but the man can be reasonedwith. However, he is not overly fond of dwarves" he explains.
"He's leaving" Ori states while looking through a crack in the door. Dori pulled him away saying how it was unnatural. And that he must be under some kind if dark spell. I glare at him.
"Don't be a fool" I tell him
"He's under no enchantment buthis own" Gandalf adds. "Alright now, get some sleep, all of you. You'llbe safe here tonight" he tells us. I lay down beside Bilbo and fall asleep quickly.
(Next morning)
After we all woke up in the morning. We all meet Beorn the Skin-Changer officially. Bilbo and I went first with Gandalf as we were hobbits. Once all the dwarves were introduced we go into the main house to see breakfast prepared for us already. We each took a seat as Beorn poured us drinks. "So you are the one they call Oakenshield? Tell me, why is Azog the Defiler hunting you?" he asks Thorin.
"You know of Azog? How?" Thorin shots back.
"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" he explains.
"There are others like you?" Bilbo asks him curious.
"Once there were many" Beorn answers.
"And now?" Bilbo asks and I elbow him.
"Now there is only one" Beorn states before changing the subject. "You need to reach to reach the Mountain before the last days of autumn" he says. Gandalf confirmed it saying we must reach it before Durin's day falls. "You're running out of time" Beorn tells us.
"We know" I tell him.
"Which is why we must go through Mirkwood" Gandalf states. I look at him shocked, another elf kingdom. Thorin will just love that.
"A darkness lies upon that forest. 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" Beorn tells us.
"We will take the Elven road. That path is still safe" Gandalf assures him.
"Safe? The Wood Elves of Mirkwood are not like their kin. They're less wise and more dangerous. But it matters not" Beorn states.
"What do you mean?" Thorin asks him. Well at least he's not against the idea.
"These lands are crawling with orcs. Their numbers are growing. And you are on foot. You will never reach the forest alive. I don't like dwarves. They're greedy and blind, blind to the lives of those they deem lesser than their own... But orcs I hate more. What do you need?" Beorn asks us.
So he gave us ponies stating we had to release them before we entered Mirkwood. Along with food and water. Of course, Gandalf has a proper horse. Beorn even gave me a new sharpening rock as he had plenty of spares. Bilbo rides with me as we gallop towards Mirkwood with the rest of our company.
A/N
Picture above of Beorn as a bear and picture on the external link of him as a man.
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Cousin of Bilbo Baggins: The Hobbit
FanfictionI'm sure you've all heard of Bilbo Baggins and of his adventures to reclaim Erebor for the dwarves. But have you heard of his younger cousin Astrid? She was the Shire's protector since her parents died and was able to defend herself. She knows how t...
