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Predator or Prey
CHAPTER ELEVEN.
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Twelve months passed.
Twelve months passed ever since the Company got away from Azog's and Nhel's hands. Throughout those twelve months, the Company were pursued by the Orc party.
Selene got to know all of the dwarves and Bilbo more, for the duration of the year. They surprised her everyday with something new. Whether it was being able to dance and shove food in their mouths at the same time or sing and dance as they fought the few enemies they came across all year round.
The same goes for the Company; they learned a new fact from Selene almost everyday. She amazed them often, showing off her skills and abilities as a dragon. She was more used to being in her dragon form, which was why she wasn't really good when it came to hand-to-hand combat. The dwarves did offer to train and spar with her, she accepted some of their requests, to practice for the day when she wouldn't be able to shift into her dragon form.
Selene and Gandalf spoke more to each other, after the young woman found out from the wizard that her mother was alive. Well, there was a small chance that she was. Though, the last time Gandalf saw Selene's mother was way back before the quest even started. He could not remember the exact details, but one thing for sure, she didn't look happy nor did she look sad.
Another thing, the Company were also on the lookout for, was a witch. The day when Selene's vision stopped appearing, after Nhel told the dragon-woman herself; Selene could never see a vision when her eyes went black. The only thing she could see was darkness. A vision would never come. All she got was pain, whenever she tried to fight off the magic.
She screamed until tears would roll down her cheeks. It really hurt her and weakened her, to the point where she just wanted to turn herself in to Nhel, every time it happened. But Thorin was always there to comfort her and she was grateful for that.
Now, Selene and Bilbo, sat on a ridge as they scouted their surroundings. The howls and the barking from the wargs reached their ears and the both of them peeked over a small rock. Azog and Nhel were leading their Orc party, and they were not too far away - yet still too close - from where they were stopped at. They both ducked down when Azog's ice, cold eyes rotated in their direction.
Selene listened quietly at the sound of the warg's paws running off again. She nudged Bilbo once the coast was clear.
Bilbo sighed in relief from next to her, watching the Orc party run off in a different direction. Their moment was interrupted by the sound of another creature growling. Selene took cover and dragged Bilbo down with her, as the both of them leaned forward to get a look at the creature.
It was a bear. A big, black bear. Though, it was a tad bit larger than a regular bear. It snarled as it watched the Orc pack run off.
Selene felt Bilbo poke her side and she gazed down at him. He frantically began moving his hand around and his head, motioning in the direction where the others were.
'Go back.' He mouthed at her. It took a minute for her to process the words, before she agreed and they silently sneaked off.
Bilbo broke into a fast-paced walk in front of her, she easily kept up. Once they reached the spot, the others were, Thorin and Dwalin were the first to greet them.
"How close is the pack?" Thorin asked.
Bilbo shook his head, "Too close. A couple of leagues, no more." He hopped off the ledge like steps. Selene wasn't far behind.
Thorin waited for her to pass him, taking one last look behind her to make sure no one followed, before returning his attention back to Bilbo.
"But that's not the worst of it." Bilbo panted, when it was Dwalin's turn to question the hobbit.
"Have the wargs picked up our scent?"
Selene answered him, "Not yet. But they will do." She looked over her shoulder, hoping the large, black bear didn't see them.
Bilbo nodded at her words, "We have another problem."
"Did they see?" Gandalf asked. "They saw you." He then said, when neither Bilbo or Selene replied.
"No, that's not it." Bilbo shook his head from side to side.
Gandalf smiled at the others, "What did I tell you? Quiet as a mouse." The dwarves murmured in agreement. "Excellent burglar material."
"Will you just listen?" Bilbo turned to the dwarves, but they did not hear him. "Will you just listen?!" He repeated, raising his voice. "I'm trying to tell you there is something else out there." He pointed back to where he and Selene just came from.
Thorin nudged her, giving her a look that said 'Is it true?' and she nodded.
"What form did it take? Like a bear?" Gandalf stared him down.
"Ye-" Bilbo began, but stopped to look at Gandalf with big eyes. "Y-Yes, but bigger. Much bigger."
Bofur's eyes were wide too. "You knew about this beast?" Gandalf spun around, instead of answering the dwarf. "I say we double back."
"And be run down by a pack of Orcs?" Thorin retorted with a shake of his head.
"There is a house... It's not far from here," Gandalf turned back around to face the Company. "Where we might, uh, take refuge."
"Whose house? Are they friend or foe?" Thorin boomed from Selene's left.
Gandalf puckered his lips, "Neither. He will help us or... He will kill us."
In her mind, Selene shook her head. How did Gandalf know so many people? How come almost half of them were not kind? When she was taken in under his care, she never got to meet any of his old friends or acquaintances. She always had to stay at home and cook lunch or dinner, by the time he got back. If he did.
"What choice do we have?" Thorin's loud voice asked again.
A deafening roar came from the distance, causing everyone to freeze.
"None."
They were running again. Not from the Orc party this time, but from the bear. The large animal had picked up their scent a few hours after the Company took off.
They ran through a meadow full of colored flowers, Selene ran and avoided stepping on the beautiful plants, not wanting them to die.
"Come on!" Gandalf yelled, waving his arm.
Selene ran through the shallow creek first and waited for the others to cross. Thorin waited on the other side from where she was, letting a few of the dwarves and Bilbo to pass and ran again. Gandalf stood back for the rest of the Company and when Bombur passed him, he ran by the fat dwarf's side.
It took seven minutes for the Company to cross another wide and long meadow, before they entered a small wooded area. They ran down a steep hill, almost tripping over their own feet because of how fast and how desperate they wanted to get away from the bear.
The bear roared again and the dwarves stopped running. Selene wanted to call them out for pulling a stupid move, but Gandalf beat her to it.
"This way! Quickly!"
Gandalf continued on and Selene followed him. She could hear the bear getting closer and it made her heart pump fast. Never in her life did she hear a roar that loud, come from a large bear.
"To the house!" Gandalf shouted again, and Selene looked ahead to see that they were just several yards away from it. "Run!"
Selene looked over her shoulder while she ran, noticing Bombur outrunning his companions until he reached Selene's side.
"Come on, get inside." Gandalf breathed heavily, gesturing for everyone to sprint quickly into the opened gate of the house. Selene stopped and stood at his side, counting the heads of the dwarves and Bilbo as they ran passed.
Fíli, Bofur, Bombur and Kíli were the first ones to reach the door. They only ran into it, hoping it would bust open. It clearly did not.
Selene heard its paws roughly connect with the muddy ground, before it broke through the trees. The bear was getting closer and the dwarves still could not get the door open.
"Open the door!" Gandalf commanded them, pushing Selene forward, they both sprinted towards the door.
The door was barred and Selene was the only one who noticed it. "Unbar the door, you idiots!"
They unbarred the door to the house and all piled in briskly. And with indistinctive shouting, the dwarves slammed the door onto the bear's head who snarled at them.
"Push!" shouted Kíli and Nori.
Selene pushed through a few of them to get to the door and pushed on it with all the strength she could muster.
"Come on, lads!" Dwalin huffed, and with one last heave, they were finally able to shut the door on the bear. No one forgot about barring it back up either.
"What is that?" Ori questioned the wizard, his heart pounded rapidly in Selene's ear.
"That is our host." Gandalf answered, the corner of his lips tugged into half a smirk and half a smile.
Selene wondered why he was smiling. Did he set them up into a trap? No, he wouldn't. She glanced at the dwarves and Bilbo, who wore the same puzzled expression as she did. She used both of her index fingers and dugged them into her ears, then took them out and stared at the wizard again.
"I'm sorry. I don't think I heard you correctly. Did you say that the bear is our host?" Her jaw fell when Gandalf nodded.
"His name is Beorn. And he's a skin-changer." Gandalf smiled at Selene. "Just like you, my dear."
Just as Selene's jaw closed, it dropped again. "What?" She knew that there were possibly a few skin-changers left on Middle-Earth. She just didn't know that they would actually come across one during their journey.
"Sometimes he's a huge black bear. Sometimes hes's a great strong man." Gandalf added on, walking by the brown bulls. "The bear is unpredictable... But the man can be reasoned with. However, he is not overfond of dwarves."
"Oh, that's wonderful." Selene muttered, rolling her eyes. She zoned out the dwarves and Gandalf talking, and walked away to tour the small house of Beorn.
She saw goats, chickens, pigs and lots of mice. That was when she explored the barn area. But even when she wasn't in the barn area, she still saw the mice running around other parts of the home. She entered the kitchen and dining area, realizing how tall and large the table was.
Beorn must be incredibly tall, for him to have such massive items in his home. At least, that's what Selene believed. She adored how neat and tidy the home was and how the house was made of mostly polished wood and stone. It was a cozy place and she loved it. Beorn's home reminded her of something she had once. A home.
Too busy stroking the polished wood that held up the upper frame of the house, as well as being lost in her own train of thought, Selene didn't hear Thorin coming up behind her.
Thorin knew Selene was in her own little world when she did not acknowledge his oncoming presence. She usually did, but she always seemed to be in her own little word the past various months. So, he took the chance to take in the beauty of the young woman in front of him.
Selene was appealing to his blue eyes and he had never found a woman around his age so alluring. Of course, he had been with a few women back then, but none of them made him feel the way Selene did. One look from her and he would swoon inside.
He never felt caring and protective of her until the day he (and the others aside from Gandalf) found out that her mother was missing; and perhaps still alive. His father was missing as well, though, he wasn't sure if he was still alive or not. He was able to speak with her a few days after they escaped from Azog and Nhel.
Both Thorin and Selene, never realized how related most of their problems were. But they strongly related on two of their troubles; his father was missing and so was her mother. His grandfather was beheaded by the Defiler and her mother, taken by Nhel. Thorin and Selene, both wanted revenge. Their fuel for revenge burned even more, after finding out that the two pale Orcs were still alive, and not dead like they were told.
"What are you thinking of?" Thorin stepped up to her side. He watched her trace the patterns of the wooden column in the middle of the kitchen.
She smiled faintly, not turning to him and answered, "This place reminds me of the one I lived in when I was younger." Her sad eyes met his calm ones as she spoke again. "I.. I just miss home. At least, the one I had when I was child. I don't have a place I can call home anymore."
"You don't?" Thorin studied her solemn face. She shook her head in response. "I thought you lived with Gandalf?"
The dragon-woman shook her head again, "No. I decided to be on my own when I was older. And I could never live with others in a village or a small town 'cause they fear me. So I stayed in caves or lived under the murky and non-murky waters nearby."
Thorin nodded, understanding why she felt the way she did. He also understood the reason why she could live underwater. As a dragon, she could stay underwater for days. But must resurface and spend a few hours breathing air at least 1-2 times a week.
He remembered the day when they all were swimming at a small lake. His nephews and a few other dwarves challenged each other to see who could hold their breath the longest. The game lasted four minutes. Most of the dwarves couldn't hold their breath no more than a minute. His nephews could only hold in theirs for only two minutes more. And Selene held her breath, a lot longer than the dwarves did. She did not resurface right away when the dwarves lost, they almost thought she had drowned.
But when she was pulled out of the water by Thorin, she was fine. That's when she told another fact about her and her dragon about water. The hide of a black dragon functioned like the skin of amphibians: it extracts oxygen from water and feeds the oxygen directly into the bloodstream. It was less efficient than breathing with lungs, so black dragons were amphibious in a way. As long as the water was not salty, and as long as the dragon resurfaced after spending days underwater to breathe in new air for a few hours, they would be fine.
Thorin took her soft hands in his calloused ones and kissed the back of her hand, before pulling her close. "You are welcomed to stay with me in Erebor."
"No, I can find my own place. I-"
"Selene, I am welcoming you to stay with me - us, in Erebor." Thorin argued, cutting her off. He did not want her to live alone and did not want her to live in fear of being killed by others. Again, Selene told the Company a while ago, about why she was being hunted in the first place and why she went into hiding. "I am not arguing with you and that's final." He looked at her sternly, not backing down from her death stare.
And in a few minutes, she sighed in defeat. "Fine." She tried to pull her hand out from his, but failed as he held onto it. "You're still holding my hand."
"I know," Thorin hummed and pulled her along to join the others who were getting ready for bed.