[IC] Hobbit-LOTR: Quests, Curses, And Guardians { Angel & Polarize }

[kiiblade]

Bilbo looked to Gandalf curiously, surprised that he could guess so easily. "Y-yes. But bigger, much bigger.”
Bofur was liking this less and less. “I say we double back.” There were murmurs of agreement, but Thorin spoke up.
“And be run down by a pack of Orcs.” They didn't have many options here, though Gandalf did mention a house where they may take refuge.
“Whose house? Are they friend or foe?” Thorin questioned, and then suddenly a loud roar ripped through the clearing. "Run!"

[AngelBites15]

"A large bear, you say?", Saeril spoke up. "Sounds like Beorn, Gandalf", she said to the wizard with her eyes slightly narrowing. She slightly jumped at the roar of a giant bear. It was indeed him. "We don't have a choice", the wizard silently answered himself.

And then, they were running. The roar was getting closer until there was indeed a house in the distance. The she-elf's cloak was only dragging behind her a little bit, but it wasn't that long, so she didn't have to hold it up while she was running. A few times that Kili or Fili tripped, she would pick them to get them back on their feet.

[kiiblade]

Kili had tripped twice, but he had been helped by his godmother. Thanking her breathlessly, the youngest kept along with the rest of them.
Despite his size, Bombur surpassed them all.
"Hurry!" Thorin urged them along, and once they reached the shack of a house, they burst inside with only seconds to spare.

As quickly as he could, Kili moved to push the door shut. The monstrous bear attempted to push his way inside, and there were panicked yells from the company until they overcame Beorn's strength and won. With the door now shut, everyone sighed in relief.

"What was that?!" Kili had never known such a creature to exist. Beorn larger than any bear. Immediately, he searched Saeril's face, as he was trying to ensure she hadn't hurt her leg anymore. When it came to injuries, Kili could be a bit paranoid when it involved someone he cared about.

[AngelBites15]

Running inside, Saeril had one of her curved daggers at the ready. Beorn was beyond any other creature she has ever met during her travels with Gandalf. If the beast ever passed the door's limit, she had her resources, and a family to protect. "That is our host", answered the wizard, saying it as a matter-of-fact. "His name is Beorn, and he's a skinchanger". Just by hearing him say that it was Beorn and not any other creature of darkness hunting them, the she-elf sighed in relief before putting the dagger back into its place.

Her leg ached a little from the running but she didn't complain, she never would. Not at a moment like this. Saeril showed relief that her godsons were safe, and that she was alive as well, and didn't fall behind.

"Skinchanger; sometimes, he’s a huge black bear, and sometimes, he’s a great strong man", she informed the company on what kind of creature they were. Basically, shapeshifters. "The bear is unpredictable, but the man can be reasoned with", she spoke while watching the company get used to their surroundings. "However, he is not overfond of dwarves", she added in grim with her eyes narrowing. "Beorn has had a troubled past, I'm afraid, and it's best not to advance on him during a first encounter". It was a warning, and a fact, in order to keep them noted. Saeril didn't want any of them to get hurt by this hostile creature.

[kiiblade]

"He's leaving!" Ori piped up, only to be pulled away by his older brother Dori.
“Come away from there! It’s not natural, none of it." Dori often lectured his brothers, much to the dismay of Nori. "It’s obvious: he’s under some dark spell...sounds like dark magic to me!”
This gained murmurs of agreement from Bofur and Gloin as Dwalin checked the door.
"Enough! We can travel no more tonight. We will have to rest," Thorin announced, much to the relief of many including Bilbo. The home was somewhat messy, yet very comfortable. Clean hay littered the ground, perfect for sleeping. "It is obvious he cannot be reasoned with."

Kili was once again impressed by how much his godmother knew. "A skin changer? I've never heard of one...can he only change into a bear?" Often observant, Kili inspected their surroundings. To a dwarf, the home appeared furnished for a giant. Everything was taller and much larger than back home.
The hay looked comfortable, and after their lengthily journey, they deserved a place to rest. Kili reached up and took Saeril's hand, leading her towards a spot so she might sit down and rest her leg.

[AngelBites15]

"Don't be a fool; he's under no enchantment but his own!", Gandalf retorted, reassuring him that there was no ill-will to be made to the giant black bear. Obviously, Beorn didn't have many companions as of late, but for Saeril to cross paths with him, he was only viewed as a victim of tragic circumstance. Someone that was pitied upon. "Do not worry about yourselves; you'll be safe here...", the wizard trailed off and muttered under his breath, though he knew Saeril would be the only one to hear it. "I hope".

Saeril hoped that would be true, but then she figured that as long as Beorn walked about outside, she figured that they would be fine from their hunters. Everyone slept on the floor of the barn, and the she-elf's nerves were calmed when she felt Kili take her hand and lead her to comfortable spot that Fili, once again, found and set up. She was being careful, and decided to keep her cloak on as she slept on her side on top of a blanket, and some hay, as she let herself sleep in between the heirs. With Fili's back towards her, it seemed that I have his brother was the one the closest towards her, laying his head upon her chest, like a child. That same night, nobody noticed Beorn in his strong male form, as he enters the house. No one, except Bilbo, notices him.

[kiiblade]

Snuggled against his godmother, Kili slept like a rock. The youngest didn't budge or stir, he was exhausted, and thankful for the chance to sleep. The night was long, peaceful, and without disturbance. Aside from Rivendell, this was the most comfortable the company had been. In a home like this, no harm could come to them. They were perfectly safe, and no one had to keep watch.

When morning did come, Bilbo was startled awake by a large bumblebee. Every object and creature within the home was about ten times the size it should have been. Scrambling up in haste, Bilbo moved to join the others at the table. Beorn was speaking with Gandalf while Thorin and the others listened by.

While it was unlike him, Kili was one of the last ones awake. Hay clinging to his clothes and hair, he sat up, rubbed at an eye tiredly, then noticed their burglar pass them by. Even from their distance, Beorn was visible, and the skin changer was a sight to behold. In Kili's mind, this was the only in Middle Earth that could have been taller than Gandalf.

[AngelBites15]

Upon Gandalf's request, Beorn was reluctant to beckon the dwarves to sit at this large table where they could eat and drink. Noticing that they were the last to be awake, Saeril gently nudged the dwarf until he awoke. She was relieved that her companions were accepted by the great beast, otherwise it would have turned into a jeopardizing predicament that could turn messy very quickly. Standing near the wall, just near the brothers, and across from Thorin, the she-elf was in her thinking stage as she had small bites of cheese from Kili's breakfast.

"So, you are the one that they call Oakenshield", Beorn growled as he poured milk into each of their mugs. It would seem he had at least heard the tale of Thorin before. "Tell me, why is Azog the Defiler hunting you?"

[kiiblade]

Kili ate his breakfast in silence. Beorn was intimidating, yet completely interesting. His tall form hovered above them, and his low voice supassed even Thorin's.
Still tired, Kili leaned into Saeril a little bit, taking care to listen in. The youngest's brown eyes landed towards Beorn's wrists, and he frowned in concern. What had caused this?

Thorin looked to Beorn as he spoke, an eyebrow raised. "You know of Azog? How?" The very name of his enemy boiled his blood, though he kept himself in check. This was their host, one good enough to have offered them a meal along with shelter.

Similar to Kili, Bilbo couldn't help but notice the evidence of shackled wounds around Beorn's wrists. Unlike Kili, Bilbo was quick to advert his gaze.

[AngelBites15]

"My people were the first to live in these mountains; before the orcs came down from the north", Beorn explained as he walked up and down the length of the room, kind of caught in the past a little. "The Defiler killed most of my family, but some he enslaved. Not for work, you understand, but for sport. Caging skinchangers and torturing them seemed to...amuse him", his voice was low, to the point of almost growling in anger. "There used to be many of us, but I remain as the last", he finished.

"You need to reach the mountain before the last days of autumn", it was a statement, not a question. "Before Durin’s Day falls, yes", Gandalf confirmed. "We must go through Mirkwood", just by hearing that forest, Saeril stiffened a little, she kept a soothing hand upon Kili's wrist.

"A darkness lies upon that forest; foul things creep beneath those trees", Beorn warned. "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 told the wizard of the dangers within the forest. "It's not safe there; the Elves of Mirkwood are not like their kin. They are less wise, and more dangerous", he concluded.

"It doesn't matter, the Orc numbers are growing, and we are on foot. We've been through enough danger", Saeril spoke up from her position next to Kili. "You will never reach the forest alive", Beorn growled before standing up at his full height. "I don’t like dwarves; they’re greedy and blind, blind to the lives of those they deem lesser than their own", he notices a mouse on the table and picks him up. "But Orcs I hate more", he growled in anger to himself. "What do you need?", he asked the dwarven Prince.

Later, the beast was kind enough to let the group borrow his horses from the barn on their way to the forest. Saeril helped Kili upon his horse by lifting him. "Go now, while you have the light. Your hunters are not far behind", Beorn warned them before they left, with the she-elf sitting behind the youngest upon his horse for the first time, since their journey began.

[kiiblade]

Kili kept a hold of the reigns, relieved that his godmother might rest her leg. The horses were taller than ponies, and the help from her was appreciated. The company traveled a few hours until they arrived at a forested area. Unlike the rest of the foliage, everything within the entry appeared withered and dead.

“This forest feels...sick, as if a disease lies upon it." Bilbo was uneasy, and he looked to Gandalf in hopes of him coming up with another route. "Is there no way around?”

Kili wasn't liking the looks of this, either. The woods were dark, and the trees were too close together to allow a horse through such a tight space. "This isn't like our forest, is it?" The youngest questioned Saeril lowly, referring to her home and the woods of his childhood.

[AngelBites15]

Gandalf looked back to see the huge black bear watching them, who seems to be making sure that they didn't take the ponies into the forest. "Set the ponies loose", he ordered them. "Let them return to their master. We must travel through on foot. Going around will take twice as long", he spoke as he stepped to examine the entrance to the forest.

Saeril glanced at the forest as Kili asked her about the difference between this one and Fangorn. "A little bit. This one is more denser; heavier, and much longer and taller", she looked at the forest before her. "Unlike the woods you're used to, you can easily get lost in this one". She's been here, and it was all true. "A shame to lose such fine beasts", she stated as she dismounted the horse before helping Kili down. "If only you saw the creatures living in Fangorn", she spoke to him, chuckling at a fonding memory of the Ents, although she hoped her laughter would bring a little light to their upcoming situation. "Mighty things they are", the she-elf sighed as she thought about her home, softly smiling at the creature before her.

Pulling an old clump of vines off a stone statue, Gandalf saw that a large eye had been plastered with red war paint. Galadriel's voice spoke to him in his mind. "If our enemy has returned, then we must know. Go to the tombs in the mountains."
"The High Fells. So be it." he swallowed, turning quickly back to the group. "Not my horse, I need it!" he called.

[kiiblade]

"What kinds of creatures?" Kili looked back to Saeril as the rest of the company dismounted from their horses. Kili did the same, and he offered his godmother a hand even though he was so much shorter than she was. It was the thought that counted, anyway. "Were they like the stone giants?"

"Focus, Kili." Thorin knew that his nephew would ask dozens of questions, and now was not the time. Gandalf was leaving them once again.
“Come on. We must reach the mountain before the sun sets on Durin’s Day.” The woods were uninviting, and a broken, paved path lead them towards the darkness. Foliage and shrubbery crowded the travelers, and the trees seemed to reach the sky and block out the possibility that the sun was above them. "This is our one chance to find the hidden door."

It wasn't long before the company became hopelessly lost. "Is there no end to this accursed place?" Thorin searched for the path, but it was gone from view. Increasingly agitated, he and Dwalin both attempted to go in different directions, but they were lost. Hopelessly so. Some dwarves voiced their concerns, others merely mumbled to themselves.

Kili felt himself grow dizzy and confused, and when he looked towards where his brother should have been, he found Fili gone. "Fili?" Worried, Kili started to leave the group in order to find him, but all he'd seen was an illusion. Fili was further up ahead.
The youngest was not the only one hallucinating: Bilbo saw himself walking backwards, and when his head snapped up, he saw himself in Dori's place. Something was terribly wrong here.

[AngelBites15]

"I would not do this unless I had to", Gandalf answered as he got onto the horse's back again. "I have business that needs attending to, and it cannot wait. No matter what happens, stay on the path!", he reminded them, before riding away.

Saeril used her elven stealth to allow herself to walk more quiet, but the forest itself was eerily quiet. Something wasn't right, she knew. It didn't feel normal. She couldnt help but see Kili stride away from the group. That was when she remembered: the very air was heavy with illusion. It had no effect on the Elven folk, but she just found out that Kili nor his brother were immune. They began to walk slower, their speech began to slur, they were hallucinating and disoriented, and they began to feel light-headed but they forced themselves to keep going.

Quickly, the she-elf had to prevent him from almost falling off the edge of the path by grabbing the back of his cloak, and turning him around. She was down to his level, and holding his face, trying to tell him that it wasn't real and that he was seeing things.

[kiiblade]

“A tobacco pouch. There’s dwarves in these woods.” Dori spoke in a hushed voice, completely unaware that the pouch had belonged to one of them.
Bofur looked to it, then gave a slow nod. “Dwarves from the Blue Mountains, no less. This is exactly the same as mine.”
Bilbo was exasperated; his head ached and his mind was a marbled mess. “Because it is yours. Do you understand? We’re going round in circles. We are lost.”

Kili was seconds away into falling headfirst into a curious looking swamp. The water was a peculiar color, and no good could have come from it. Thankfully, Saeril had caught him by his cloak. At first, Kili was alarmed, but he calmed when he saw that it was only his godmother. If anyone could help recover Fili, she could.
"N-no. Bilbo is right. Fili...is lost." Kili's voice slurred near the end, and his vision seemed to go in and out of focus. Everything appeared tilted; the ground and sky felt as if they had changed places. Desperate for balance, he moved one hand to Saeril's even as she held his face. "He's this way," Kili pointed towards the swamp with his free hand, insistent that this was where his brother had gone. "I have to find him!"

A few of the dwarves began to fight among themselves, and Bilbo tapped his forehead several times in order to clearly think. They needed light.
“The sun. We have to find the sun. Up there. We need to..." The hobbit's words trailed off, and he began to climb the tallest, and nearest tree. Unnoticed by him, there were freakishly large spiderwebs strewn throughout the branches. The webs belonged to arachnids of an equally large size.

[AngelBites15]

"No. He's not real. That wasn't real", Saeril softly spoke to him, before looking behind her to see Fili in the distance, also in his own trance, and kinda in his own little world. It was strange and out of place to see the brothers like this; so disordered. Apart from Bilbo, she was the only one who could talk some sense into her companions, including her godsons. She gripped Kili's pointing hand away from the swamp, signaling him that he was mistaken. "Your brother is over there. He's not lost", she pointed behind her, to the blonde near the others. "It's okay. You're just confused", she comforted him before letting him be leaned into her shoulder.

She rocked Kili a little to make him come to his senses before she heard something creak. Almost like a thousand legs trailing down the bark of the trees. They were slow, and they were getting close. Turning around, she found a wave of arachnids dragging the company off. Plus, she heard a hiss in the other direction, stalking towards her and the youngest. Sheathing one of her daggers, throwing it towards the creature, piercing its head.

[kiiblade]

The spider gave an unearthly screech, one horrible enough to scare Kili into nocking an arrow. The youngest shot, missed, and nearly hit a now-invisible Bilbo as the hobbit worked to free the others. Bilbo looked to the quivering arrow in disbelief while realizing that he could have been hit. Kili's arm was remarkably off.

Abandoning his bow, Kili drew a sword and moved to help his godmother, but he felt something wrap around his leg. They were met with yet another spider of incredible size, and this one was moving fast. Snarling incoherently, the beast started to pull Kili in right as the corpse of a spider fell from the trees and hit the ground. Bilbo was working above to help them, just as Saeril was working below to help her godson.

[AngelBites15]

Saeril was quick to act fast, as her wings unraveled themselves, and flew herself towards the spiders. Agile maneuvers like any other elf, her dagger and her sharp finger cuffs were her only shape-weapon, as she killed off at least half of the pack that proceeded from the tree tops. Slicing at the spider that held Kili, the she-elf kicked at the arachnid, until she felt the pierce of another's stinger.

[kiiblade]

Kili was quick to scramble to his feet, panicked to see one of the spiders pierce Saeril. With an angered shout, he swung his sword at one of the spider's 8 legs and hacked it clean off. With speed on Kili's side, he managed to cut off another before he too was hit, then drug down. If the spiders had their way, they would proceed to wrap their victims.

One by one, Bilbo cut the dwarves down from their makeshift prisons. Each was woken from the impact, and each freed themselves from the overly sticky webbing.
"Thorin! They need our help!" Dwalin called as he saw Kili and Saeril, his axe drawn and ready. Thorin moved in to attack, and the rest of the company also got to work taking the terrible creatures down.

[AngelBites15]

The sting pierced Saeril in the left arm, and she felt the numbness throughout her body, almost as if she was stiff inside out (almost like her arm fell asleep). The injury on her leg was healed, but this was another injury she would have to fight through. She and Kili couldn't momentarily move, while under the effects of the spiders' poison in their bloodstream.

The she-elf realized that the company was outnumbered by the arachnids, but she didn't expect Elves to appear out of the trees, some shooting at the spiders with arrows, while others used knives. That's when Legolas appeared, using his arrows and knives to kill the spiders, after which, they point their arrows at the dwarves and the she-elf. "Do not think I won't kill you, Dwarf. It would be my pleasure", he firmly told Thorin as he kept his stance in front of him, with the arrow aimed at his face.