"Leithiandes," Beorn set down his axe by the pile of wood he'd been chopping. "It is good to see you again, old friend." He approached, towering over her, Gandalf, and especially Bilbo. He pulled her in for a very gentle hug, which she returned.

"Who are your friends?" He asked, a bit wary. He'd never been overly fond of strangers on his property. Too many trampled flowers and nearly stolen ponies for his liking.

"This is Gandalf," She started. The wizard trusted she could convince him to help them, she always did have a way with words and such.

"Never heard of him. And what's this little fellow?" He knelt down to look at Bilbo.

"That's Mr Baggins," The hobbit looked at the man, trying to hide his terror. "A hobbit, and a very good friend of mine. They have been my travelling companions as of late. Gandalf is a wizard, and I'm sure you've met his cousin, Radagast?"

"Indeed. Not a bad fellow as wizards go, I believe. Well, I understand you dropping by here, but what business do your friends have with me? You know how I feel about strangers."

"We've run into a bit of trouble, and need your help. We've lost much of our supplies when we had a run in with some goblins."

"Goblins?" He looked over to Agarwaen. "What did you go near them for?" He asked. "I would've expected you to know where they take up residence by now."

"I do. They took us by surprise on a path we had to take through the mountains. We've been travelling from the west, you see. It is quite the tale."

"Then you must come inside and tell me. I am always interested in your tales, you know." He smiled and led the way to his front door. Bilbo looked nervously back at the hedge. If this Beorn was so wary of visitors, then what would he have to say about thirteen dwarves?

Agarwaen tried to keep herself from fidgeting, as everything she did hurt her fingers, but even though she knew Beorn quite well, she wasn't sure how he'd react to the company, and that worried her. Beorn led them through his grand house, which had a fire pit burning brightly in the middle, and out onto his veranda, where she had spent quite some time recounting stories to him in the past. They sat down on the benches, and then Agarwaen began.

"I was taking a few friends through the mountains with me..."

"A few? I can only see two, and one of them is quite a little one at that." Beorn interrupted. He disliked discrepancies in her stories, as he always wanted to envision it perfectly, as if he was out there venturing the wilds too. It's something he'd always wanted to do, but knew he couldn't.

"Well, you see," Gandalf spoke, and Beorn's dark brown eyes shifted to the wizard. "We didn't want to bother you with a lot of us until we found out if you were busy. I will give a call if I may."

"Go on, call away." Beorn agreed, wondering exactly how many other friends Leithiandes had. He knew that for a time, he was her only. Gandalf gave a sharp whistle, and from around the hedge, which they could see from the veranda, came Thorin and Dori.

"Quite a few friends, I see. But these are not hobbits, they are dwarves." Beorn was less than pleased.

"Thorin Oakensheild, at your service." Thorin said with a bow.

"Dori, at your service." Dori chimed in, after. Beorn looked to Agarwaen with an eyebrow raised. She offered an apologetic smile in return.

"I don't need your service, thank you. But I expect you need mine. I am not fond of dwarves, Leithiandes knows as much, but if it is true you are Thorin, and that your companion is respectable, and that you are enemies of goblins, and not to any mischief in my lands--what are you up to by the way?" He interrupted his own words. Gandalf explained that they are on their way to the land of their fathers beyond Mirkwood, and that happening upon his homestead was entirely an accident. Thorin looked to Agarwaen, silently asking if everything was going as planned. She nodded, and spoke to the man again.

"We were supposed to end up much farther south, but then the goblins attacked us and we got a bit turned around, you see, just as we were telling you before."

"Well do go on telling, then." He prompted as the two dwarves came to stand around his other three guests. Gandalf continued with the story, telling of the stone giants and the storm, which made Beorn glance worriedly at his elf friend. He knew the history she had with the giants.

"We three and several of our companions--"

"You call two several?"

"Well no, there were in fact, more than two."

"Well where are they? Killed, eaten, or gone home?"

"They did not seem to come when I whistled." Gandalf apologized. "A bit shy I suspect. Afraid that we are rather a lot for you to entertain."

"Well go on then, whistle again. I am in for a party it seems." Beorn remarked. So Gandalf called, and Ori and Nori were next to come from around the hedge.

Gandalf and Agarwaen continued recounting the tale, every few minutes, they were stopped by Beorn to ask why he called so few a troop, then a dozen, and then eventually gave him the final number of thirteen dwarves and a hobbit after many pauses to introduce two more dwarves each time. Luckily, the man seemed to think their group to be rather comical and quite the interesting mix. He wasn't pleased with the number of guests he now had to entertain, but they were friends to Leithiandes, and he wanted desperately to hear the rest of the tale and couldn't do so if he sent them away.

Through the tale, the bit about Agarwaen being left behind was obviously left out, but everything else he found quite interesting. Each of the dwarves remained overly polite and quiet during the story, as they had little option not to.

"A very good tale!" Beorn smiled as they finished, successfully introducing every last dwarf to him. "The best I have heard for a long while. If every stranger could tell such a good one, they might find me kinder. Now of course, for such a magnificent story, I believe you all deserve something to eat."

"That would be most kind of you, Beorn." Agarwaen smiled as she stood from her spot on the bench.

"Before I let you all in, however, I would like to know why you look so painfully scratched up, and what on earth happened to your hands."

"The stone giants knocked me from the path, and I fell while we were in the mountains. I kept slipping as I tried to climb back up, so now I seem to be in need of medicine."

"I have everything you should need to heal them up well. Come inside, and I will get it for you." He held the door open as all 16 of his guests filed in.

Once inside, Beorn made sure the dwarven healer, Oin, took care of his friend's hands, and then treated them all to a wonderful meal. The dwarves disliked that there was no meat for them once again, but knew better than to complain this time. After a couple hours of everyone telling more stories to please their host, Beorn began to grow bored with stories of mountains and treasures, and stopped paying attention. By now, the sun had set and everyone was about ready for a good night's sleep. They were all startled back to attention when the front door slammed, and Beorn had gone.

"Where'd he go?" Bofur asked.

"During the night, he takes the form of the bear Bilbo saw early this morning." Agarwaen explained.

"He leaves his house every night so he doesn't destroy anything or hurt his animals." Everyone nodded and hummed in understanding.

It was just the company and her sitting around the fire now, Gandalf had gone to sleep a while ago, and the room had grown silent.

"Why does he call you by another name?" Nori asked suddenly. "What was it, Leafy something?"

"Leithiandes." Agarwaen smiled at his attempt to pronounce it. "It was a name I went by a long time ago."

"Elven names mean things, don't they? What does that one mean?" Fili asked.

"Free." She responded. "I changed it when I left home to find adventure. To start over and be a new person."

"What about Agarwaen? What does that one mean?" Ori asked.

"And which one is your real name?" Kili added.

"Agarwaen..." She wondered what she should tell them. If she said that it meant bloodstained, then they would want to know why. "It means powerful." She lied, instead giving them the meaning of her birth name, Ballineth. "My parents thought that I would grow up to do great things. Be a force to be reckoned with. They weren't wrong, but I don't think they were exactly right either. Agarwaen is my birth name."

"What are you talking about? They were more than right." Fili said. "They must be proud to call you their daughter." She swallowed the lump in her throat. Proud? They were upset when she left the first time, and then after what she did before leaving again? They wished she was not their daughter.

"Yeah..." She said, faking a smile. "I think I'm going to turn in for the night, now." She said, getting up, careful not to bump her freshly bandaged hands on anything.

"Agarwaen," Thorin called, also getting up. She looked over at him, and he nodded for her to follow him. She listened and was joined by Balin as well.

"Balin and I have been discussing it, and we would like to offer you a place in the company. Officially." Balin pulled out a slightly torn and damaged piece of parchment.

"You were supposed to sign this and have a claim in the treasure before we knew you were an elf. We understand if you do not wish to be a member in the company of Thorin Oakenshield, but we wanted to give you the chance to be, if you want." Balin explained. Agarwaen tried to process what she'd just been told, and was confused as to how she should feel about this. They intended to make her a member, but chose not to because of her race, which offended her despite the racism being something they had to work past. But they had finally overcome it and wanted to make amends, and it made her happy to see that.

"Y-yes, I...I would like to join the company." She gave her answer, and both dwarves smiled at her. Balin handed her the contract and a quill. She skimmed the contents of the paper, the ink rather blotchy from rainwater, and then did her best to write her name with her wrapped fingers.

"You're one us now, lass. Thank you for allowing us to make things right with you." Balin took the contract back with a smile.

"Thank you for making things right." She said in return. Balin then left them to return the paper to his bag.

"I was not sure you would accept." Thorin admitted.

"I understand that trusting me is a hard thing to do for you all, Thorin. For you to ask me into the company is of great importance and meaning. Of course I would accept." He nodded, and she smiled down at him. "But if you don't mind, I am rather tired, so I will see you all come morning."

"Sleep well, then. It is nice to sleep inside for a change."

"It is, and to you also." She said as she left. She then unrolled her bedroll in a corner near Bilbo and a few other dwarves who had decided to go to sleep, and laid down, darkness quickly claiming her.