Let Bygones Be Bygones (2 of 3)

It's been a few weeks since the events on the mountain and Azog and his warg riders have finally caught up to us, we heard their howling and Thorin sent Blilbo to go and check on how close they are to us. I hear him coming back and I stand up off the rock I was sitting on, I sigh relieved when I see him. But he looks a little worried. Thorin doesn't give him chance to catch his breath before asking him how close the pack is. Since he's heard the wargs howling he's been quite edgy.
“Too close. A couple of leagues, no more, but that is not the worst of it.” Bilbo says as he tries to catch his| breath.
“Have the Wargs picked up our scent?” Dwalin asks the Hobbit who stands in the middle of the company trying to catch his breath.
“Not yet, but they will. We have another problem.” Bilbo states
“What is is Bilbo?” I ask, he's trying to say something but no one is listening, he keeps getting asked questions.
“Did they see you? They saw you!” Gandalf says worried he was seen.
“No, that's not it.” Bilbo says still trying to catch his breath.
Gandalf nods smiling and turns to the dwarves. “What did I tell you? Quiet as a mouse. Excellent burglar material.”
The dwarves converse loudly in appreciation of Bilbo's stealthiness. Bilbo looks exasperated that no one is hearing him out.
“Will you listen- Will you just listen?” Everyone quietens down and listens to what the Hobbit has to say. “I'm trying to tell you there is something else out there.” he says pointing back up the mountain where he came from.
“What form did it take? Like a bear?” Gandalf asks with a knowing look on his face.
“Ye..." Bilbo pauses and looks curiously at Gandalf. "Y- yes. But bigger, much bigger.”
“You knew about this beast?” Bofur asks Gandalf acusingly.
“What is it Gandalf?” I ask as he turns and turns and walks a few steps away, looking into the distance
“I say we double back.” Bofur says worried about this creature Bilbo mentioned.
“And be run down by a pack of Orcs.” Thorin reminds him.
What other option do we have? We can't go back now” I say as a matter of fact.
“There is a house, it’s not far from here, where we might take refuge.” Gandalf says turning back around to the company.
“Whose house? Are they friend or foe?” Thorin asks
“Neither. He will help us, or he will kill us.” Gandalf says reluctantly, he looks concerned as he speaks.
“What choice do we have?” Thorin asks wondering about our options.
A roar pierces the silent night causing all to turn and look back the way Bilbo came from, it can only be the bear.
“None.” Gandalf says simply.
“Move, quickly!” Thorin says to the company, urgently, we all quickly start to follow Gandalf. We run down the mountain, over plains and through streams. All the walking and climbing we have been doing have more than trained us for our long hours of running.
“Come on!” Gandalf calls from ahead, occasionally stopping and making sure we're all still following.
“Not far now, hurry!” Gandalf shouts as we run through a forest. Suddenly an ear-splitting roar sounds close by from behind us causing us to stop and turn around.
“This way, quickly!” Gandalf shouts.
The dwarves panic and run, I make sure to stay near The Hobbit protectively.
The trees start thinning out and once we clear the thick of the trees a house in a large plain sits just away from the forest surrounded by a hedge.
“To the house! Run!” Gandalf shouts urging us onwards.
We run over the plain to the house, Bombur outrunning all of us, surprising for a dwarf of his build.

“Come on, get inside!” Gandalf says as he stops at the gate making sure we all get into the garden. We run through the gate in the high hedge, heading straight for the front door of the house. Bombur, reaches the door first, running straight into it without stopping, falling onto his back. The rest of the dwarves catch up and begin throwing themselves against the door, trying to open it.
“Open the door!” Gandalf says urging them to hurry up.
“Quickly!” Thorin shouts as he runs through the company I look back to the bear who I can see charging towards the gate. Bilbo has to pull me inside as the doors get opened since I'm too busy looking at the rampaging bear. Once everyone is inside the house they start to close the doors but the bear manages to wedge it's large head in the doors as as a lot of them try to close the door against the weight of the bear. Bilbo pulls out his sword and points it unsteadily at the bear.
The bear must give up because the dwarves manage to close the door and put the bar down to keep it out.
“What is that?” Ori asks looking around shocked
“That is our host.” Gandalf says simply, he looks around amused at our bewildered expressions. “His name is Beorn, and he is a skin-changer.” Gandalf continues
“Sometimes he’s a huge black bear; sometimes he’s a great strong man. The bear is unpredictable, but the man can be reasoned with. However, he is not overfond of dwarves.”
The dwarves look at each other in dismay. Ori peaks out a crack in the door.
“He’s leaving!” Ori says thankful
Dori pulls him away from the door worried it's some kind of trick. “Come away from there! It’s not natural, none of it. It’s obvious: he’s under some dark spell.”
“Don’t be a fool; he’s under no enchantment but his own.” Gandalf says simply “Alright now, get some sleep, all of you. You’ll be safe here tonight.” And quietly, he adds “I hope” My elvish hearing picking it up, I look at him and he looks worried.
After all this running my arm is throbbing, it feels like I may have broken a few of the stitches if not all of them, I'll need to check on it.
“Are you alright?” Thorin asks walking over to me noticing my pained expression.
I look up at him surprised and nod “Yeah, yeah, I'm fine, just my shoulder playing up” I admit.
“Would you like me to take a look at it?” he asks
“No, thank you, I'll manage” I nod appreciatively of the offer of assistance. He nods in reply and goes to check on the others. As I look around I notice there are rather large bees flying around the room and there are goats and cows in a small stable joined onto the house, without a partition wall. The person or people who live here seem to like things to be quite large. I find a quiet corner and check on the damage on my stitched to see if they need anything done, thankfully they're fine, surprisingly.