1 | dark pasts [oakenshield]

Eighteen

"Anne, wake up! You're dreaming! It's not real!"

She woke up with a start, inhaling sharply and waving her knife around. Bilbo yelped and jumped back, raising his hands in defense. Anne struggled to catch her breath, looking around the room. Yeah, she was still in Beorn's house. The Dwarves weren't there, though... neither was Thorin.

"Where's—"

"He's fine," Bilbo said. "He's with the others in the back."

Anne sighed in relief, putting her knife away. She ran her hands through her hair, her knuckles going from sheet white back to her normal skin tone. She wiped her eyes, her cheeks damp from crying.

"How bad was it?" she asked.

Bilbo rubbed the back of his neck. "It went from mumbling to gripping the sheets really hard, to crying, to more crying and a shriek."

"Did I hurt anyone?"

Bilbo shook his head. "You were gripping your dagger, though." Bilbo frowned. "And you said Thorin's name."

Anne paled. "Did he hear me?"

Bilbo shook his head. "No. But the funny thing is, you were fine the whole night. As soon as Thorin woke up and left, that's when your nightmare started."

"And thus I woke you up." Anne sighed. "I'm sorry, Bilbo, I didn't mean to wake you."

The Hobbit shrugged. "I was about to get up anyways. A large bee landed on my face."

Anne chuckled. "The thing with Beorn's house is that everything is big here. Even the tables make us look short... considering that we are relatively not that tall."

Bilbo pursed his lips and looked around, nodding to himself with a him. "Come on, let's go," he suggested, holding out his hand.

The Elf sighed and reluctantly took his hand so she could stand, making an effort to stand up. With her arm slung over Bilbo's shoulders, she groggily walked over to the group in the back. They were all mumbling, and Gandalf was looking out the window.

"Well, I say we should leg it," Nori suggested. "Slip out the back way."

"I'm not running from anyone," Dwalin hissed, grabbing Nori's arm. "Beast or no beast."

"What's going on here?" Anne asked with a frown. "Why are we arguing for no reason?"

"There is a man-beast right there!" Nori hissed, pointing outside.

Anne frowned and looked out the window, finding a very big and strong man cutting would with a huge axe. His skin tone seemed to be a sort of tan red velvet, and his bushy hair ran down his spine. His muscles rippled as he brought the ax down, chopping the wood in half. There were steel cuffs around his wrists, and the small amount of chain that was on it rattled as he moved.

"Oh, you mean Beorn," Anne said like it was no big deal. "Yeah, he's swell. And besides, we can't pass through the wilderland without his help. We'll be hunted down before we ever get to the forest." Anne shuddered. "Before we get to my home."

Gandalf smirked and pointed her way. "Ah, ah?" he said. "Oh, Bilbo, there you are." He started to move through the door. "Now, this will require some delicate handling. You must tread very carefully. The last person to have startled him was ripped to shreds."

All eyes went to Anne. She raised her hands in defense.

"Not me."

"I will go first, and– Bilbo? You will come with me," Gandalf said. "Anne, you, too."