The next morning, Agarwaen woke to the front door opening and heavy footsteps approaching. She groaned and folded in on herself. Everything inside her hurt and she felt like a gutted fish. Forcing her eyes open slightly, she looked up to see Beorn standing over them.

"So here you all are still. Not eaten up by wargs or goblins yet. Come, let us discuss things over breakfast." His words woke everyone else up, the only other two who looked visibly phased by the events of yesterday were Fili and Bofur who had grimaces on their faces and looked a little pale. She couldn't begin to imagine what she looked like. She wasn't even sure if she could get up. She remembered some of the drinking contest with Fili, and the singing and dancing, and she remembered getting yelled at by Gandalf, but other than that, her memory was extremely foggy.

"Need a little help?" Kili asked with a smirk as he offered his hand to her.

"Sod off." She muttered and rolled over.

"Is that any way to treat your second favorite person?" He asked. She looked back up at him with furrowed eyebrows. "What, you don't remember?" He laughed. "You told me I was your second favorite next to Bilbo!" Agarwaen just groaned again and buried her face in her arm, which she had been using as a pillow.

"Do you need a bucket?" Kili bent down and questioned smugly.

"You are," she held up her hand, her forefinger and thumb millimeters from touching, "this close to getting smacked."

"So moody. Betcha can't even reach me from down on the floor like that." He stood up and took a step back.

"Cin dilthen polca nít orch." she pushed herself up onto her feet, and immediately almost fell over again.

"See, I told you I could get her up." Kili announced.

"I'm gonna pummel you." She tried to tackle him, but he sidestepped and she just face planted on the ground.

"Rhachon le." she muttered as the dwarves laughed. Even Thorin couldn't keep a small smile from growing on his face. Agarwaen was quite possibly one of the most interesting characters he'd met, and he couldn't help but want to know more about her past and what caused her to be so drastically different than her kin.

"Agarwaen." Gandalf scolded, as she slowly got up again. "Bridle your tongue."

"Sin naugrim nafeag."

"And yet you share drinks with them nevertheless."

"You so readily scold me, Mirthrandir."

"Perhaps it is to keep you out of trouble, hmm?"

The company gathered around Beorn's big table, and began eating the breakfast he had laid out.

"It was a good story, that of yours." He began. "But I like it even better now that I know it is true. You must forgive me for not taking your word, but Agarwaen knows why. If you live near the edge of Mirkwood, you do not take the word of those you do not know." He sat with them, pouring himself a mug of milk. Agarwaen just stared at the empty space in front of her, not wanting to eat anything at all.

"So, why is Azog the Defiler hunting you?"

"You know of Azog, how?" Thorin asked.

"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." The silence around the table was saddening. It held the same feeling as when he first told Agarwaen of this long ago. "Caging skin changers and torturing them seemed to amuse him."

"There are others like you?" Bilbo asked. Agarwaen sighed.

"Once there were many, and now there is only one." He paused, and the house was silent for a moment. "You need to reach the mountain before the last days of autumn." Gandalf then told him that he was correct. "You are running out of time."

"Which is why we must go through Mirkwood."

"A darkness lies upon that forest. Foul things creep beneath those trees." He looked to Agarwaen. "It has gotten much worse since you travelled west. I fear you may not even recognize it." He warned. "There is an alliance between the orcs of Moria and the necromancer of Dol Guldur. I would not venture there except in great need." Agarwaen and Gandalf shared a look. The wizard had been right, which was not a good sign.

"We will take the elven road, and stay at a safe distance away from the kingdom." The elf spoke up.

"Surely it was not your idea to do something so dangerous. If they do find you..."

"I know. But we don't have any other option. The Old Forest Road is too far and by the end of it, it's covered in marshes. I know the path, and I know their borders. We should be alright."

"Know the path as you may, I have already told you, a darkness has taken up residence there. It will cloud your mind and lead you to stray from the path."

"We will be careful." Beorn gave her a look, before changing the subject. "This land is crawling with orcs. Their numbers are growing, and you are on foot. You will never reach the forest alive." Everyone began wondering what to do, and if they could even make it by Durin's day now. Agarwaen knew there was one way to make it, but she doubted Beorn would allow it.

"I don't like dwarves." The skin-changer stated. "They're greedy and blind. Blind to the lives they deem lesser than their own. But orcs I hate more, and Leithiandes is my friend. What do you need?"

After spending the morning and some of the afternoon gathering supplies and making preparation, the company set off. Beorn's ponies, which were big enough to carry Gandalf and Agarwaen but small enough to carry Bilbo, galloped across the plains and hills toward the elven gate. They rode until the sun began to set behind the misty mountains, and then set up camp.

"I'll take first watch." Dwalin said after Thorin announced that there would be no fire that night. The moon and stars gave them just enough light to see, but it wasn't exceptionally bright that night.

"I'll take second and third if someone will take fourth." Agarwaen added. "I don't need as much sleep." She explained when she received a few odd looks for wanting to take two spots.

"I've got fourth, then." Nori finished. Everyone then sat down to talk and eat their dinner before bed. Thorin, surprisingly enough, took a seat next to Agarwaen. He didn't say anything for a while, so she spoke first.

"What's it like, inside Erebor?" Thorin looked over at her, eyes filled with memory.

"It's...Anything and everything you could imagine. Great stone walls and floors, magnificent carved statues and structures. It's as big as a city, with homes built into the stone, a marketplace, shops, and gardens built on balcony-like ledges around the sides of the mountain where the sun can reach. I remember running through the marketplace as a child to get away from my studies. I'd even run down to the mines, despite the fact that it wasn't safe for the prince to be down there." He smiled at the memory. "The mines go on for hours beneath the mountain, full of mithril, gold, and silver veins. And then there's the forges that look like they were built for giants, where hundreds of weapons could be made there every day, should the need arise. Time that I didn't spend studying or training was usually spent in the throne room. It sits above the great treasure, spanning for forever in all directions. It's a sight to behold, and I want nothing more than for my nephews to see it in person. It's their true home. A home that Fili will once rule when I am unable to anymore."

"It sounds beautiful." Agarwaen told him with a small smile as well.

"It is." More silence fell between the two again.

"What made you leave Mirkwood in the first place?" He asked finally.

"I didn't feel like I was doing anything with my life. It was just the same thing over and over, and elves living their simple lives with their simple families and their simple problems. I couldn't take it anymore. I needed to find something else, something to give me purpose and fulfillment. So I left."

"Did you find what you were looking for?"

"Only recently." She looked over the rest of the company. "Thank you for sharing in this adventure with me."

~~~~~~~~~~

I have not studied, nor am I fluent in the languages of Sindarin or Khuzdul, so anything that is in those languages is found off the internet and may not be accurate. If any of you do speak either of those languages, I'd happy accept your help lol. Here are the rough translations of what's said in this chapter:

Cin dilthen polca nít orch- You little pig faced orc

Rhachon le- Curse you

Sin naugrim nafeag- These dwarves are rude​​​​​​​