From The Inside

11

It seemed to take an eternity to reach home. All the while Ylva was mumbling incoherently to herself. She seemed to come back to reality only to slip in some sort of delirium. Beorn wasn't going to lie, he was at a loss. He had suffered physical injuries, too many to count, he knew how to deal with them. Broken bones were something entirely different. He had been lucky – if that was the word to use – enough to not sustain any broken bones while fighting. He didn't have any idea how to go about setting the broken bones in her arm, or even her ribs. He looked down at her briefly as her eyes flickered open and she looked around confused.

"It hurts," she mumbled quietly while looking up at him. It seemed she had come back to reality enough to say something which made sense.

"I know," he said as quietly as she did. She winced when he readjusted his grip on her. She bit her lip to contain a hiss of pain. She couldn't keep it in though when he laid her gently down on the makeshift bed on the floor. She looked around startled. She hadn't even realised they had returned home. There was only so many things her mind could focus on at the moment, and one of them was not where her destination would be.

"Help," she whispered while shutting her eyes. She opened them and looked to him. "Find help." It seemed she couldn't amount to much conversation. Two words were enough to get the point across.

"I'm not leaving you."

Ylva frowned deeply at this. "Please." She whispered again, her voice slightly cracking this time. She let out a pained whimper and looked to him.

It was something he honestly didn't wish to do. But when he thought over it, it was the only course of action he could take. He had already admitted to himself that he didn't know how to look after her broken bones. He looked sharply up at the door, which still stood open. "I won't be long."

Ylva reached out with her uninjured arm, her hand lightly clasped onto his arm, he immediately stopped in his movements and looked down at her. "Radagast." She said in a rather decisive tone. Beorn frowned. He had nothing personal against the wizard, just, he wasn't wholly sure he knew what he would be doing. "Bring him." This caused Beorn to frown even more. They were meant to live in secret in this house. Not promote them being here to everyone. "Beorn," looking down when she said his name flatly, he merely sighed and hung his head.

His paranoia against the possible outside world was seemingly attempting to overrule the worry and actions which needed to be taken for the sake of her. Ylva typically being her clearly saw his inner torment. "It'll be all right," she managed to struggle to say before sharply taking a lungful of air. She shuddered when she exhaled and looked to him.

"I won't be long," he repeated while leaning down and gently resting his forehead against hers. There was a content sound from her as she struggled to nudge her head against his. Though moving caused her to let out a cry. He moved away and smoothed her wild hair out of her face. She struggled to keep her eyes open, she only lasted a few more minutes before falling into unconsciousness.

Beorn stayed by her side for a few more seconds before turning and running out of the door. He took to charging away from the house in the form of a bear. His pace was fast, he didn't wish to leave Ylva. Not one single part of him wished to leave her on her own, not now. Not knowing whether Azog was still near caused his pace to quicken even more. Looking at the sudden plants which sprouted up around him, he skidded to a stop, there had to be one here to help her. He sniffed at a few and in the end let out a short snort of annoyance. There was nothing for it. Though he wished he could help her on his own. He really did need help, he turned and ran in the direction of Radagast's home.

—

"Oh!" Were the first words which Radagast let out when he realised he had a guest. Well really it was Sebastian who noticed the guest first. Radagast had been busying around his home doing something, though at the moment he couldn't quite remember what it was, and he had left the front door open.