"So... this Born fellow-" began Nora, but Gandalf interrupted her.
"Beorn," he corrected gently.
"Right, Bee-orn. He does know we're coming?" She looked at him hopefully, but Gandalf shook his head, negating the statement.
"Okay... well, then he's really hospitable and loves guests?" she tried again. This time Gandalf laughed outright.
"No," he answered, "but if the situation stays under control, we should be fine."
"And when has the phrase 'under control' ever applied to this particular company?" Nora asked innocently, causing Gandalf to chuckle at the statement's truth.
"Well, we shall see..." he finally said, moving ahead of her.
"But that's what you say when you don't have an answer, but won't admit it..." Nora mumbled in annoyance as she followed him.
"Right then!" said Gandalf suddenly, turning to address the entire company.
Everyone stopped and grouped up to listen to the wizard.
"The orcs and wargs are not far behind, so we must move quickly, but maintain caution. Here's what I need you to do.
"I will go ahead with Bilbo right now, I want you to follow me in groups of two or three every five minutes. Go up and knock on the door. Don't say anything unless absolutely necessary and keep your weapons sheathed at all times."
"Who is this Born?" called Kili from the back.
"It's Bee-orn!" yelled Nora in her attempt at imitating Gandalf. The grey wizard gave her a long look, before continuing,
"He is... the last of his kind. Treat him with respect, he can be very dangerous when he chooses to."
"Gandalf," said Thorin in a low voice so as not to broadcast his concern to the entire company, "are you sure we will be safe?" Gandalf held the dwarf's gaze for a long moment.
"Yes," he finally said, before turning and walking away, with Bilbo following behind.
Thorin turned to address the group.
"Everyone group up in groups of two or three as Gandalf said, be ready." Aelith approached him as the company began to organize themselves.
"Me and my friends will come last," she offered. Thorin nodded gratefully, but asked,
"Are you sure? Gandalf said the goblins are not far behind." Aelith smiled grimly,
"We are trained killers your Highness. Besides..." she glanced back at the group nervously, "we need to have a short meeting." Thorin seemed about to ask further, but unexpectedly turned away.
"As you wish," he said, walking away.
Aelith, grateful he hadn't pried, turned and went to rejoin her friends who had gathered behind the company.
"We are going to bring up the rear," she told them, her 'business face' back on.
The others nodded, an uncharacteristic seriousness settling over the group.
"Nora, Runa and Nienna will go first and Avice and I will follow," she said and the girls nodded, situating themselves to stand by their respective partners. After giving them a moment, Aelith spoke up again,
"We all know that we each have..." she paused, "secrets. We accepted that about each other from the beginning." The girls nodded slowly, wondering where exactly Aelith was headed with this.
"When Runa and I formed this group, we agreed to respect each others privacy and we have held you all to that agreement. At the same time, we've all bonded, growing close until our pasts no longer mattered.
"However, this is the first time we have grown so close to anyone else outside our group," Aelith gestured at the dwarves currently sitting around joking a ways away from them.
"Should any of your pasts come to light, it is a given that no one in this group will judge you. We are sisters. However, it could cause some friction with the dwarves. I am not asking that you spill you history to them, but I'm advising caution."
Aelith looked at her friends, her equals, meeting their eyes.
"I don't know all of your secrets," she finally said. "Some of you have confided in me. Some of you have confided in each other. I don't really care where you're from or what you've done or who you are. You have all proven yourselves time and time again.
"Just keep in mind, that these people we travel with don't like surprises and might not be so understanding."
There was another pause as they all were lost in their own thoughts. It was Runa who broke the silence. She sniffed dramatically, wiping away a fake tear.
"I'm the oldest here, but Aelith was super cool right now!" With that, she tackled Aelith in a hug. The others were quick to follow suit, joining the growing group hug with various statements.
"That's our Aelith!"
"Cool and spicy!"
"HUG PILE!!!" screamed Nora, knocking them all over in her enthusiasm. Avice was immediately up and scolding her rather loudly.
Nora, however, ignored her, deciding now was the perfect moment to produce a small flute like object that produced either bubbles, sparkles, rose petals or smoke out of the end depending on what note you played.
After blowing a poof of golden sparkles into Avice's face, she began to prance about, raining down rose petals on them all. Runa and Nienna were laughing hysterically as Aelith stood, frustration clear and tried to take the flute from Nora.
This resulted in Nora blowing a long stream of bubbles into Aelith's face which temporarily blinded her so that Nora could escape and proceed to annoy the rest of the company with her toy.
***
Three knocks sounded on the door.
"Who might this be?" wondered Gandalf innocently, opening the door to reveal Bifur, Bofur and Bomber.
"Ah," he said, "I'd forgotten about them. They too are a part of our company."
The tall, intimidating man before him, looked over the three new dwarves curiously. After a moment of silence, he asked,
"Why are they covered in sparkles?" Gandalf, seeing the bedazzled dwarves past them into the house, turned to and said,
"Actually, Beorn, I'm not sure..."
"So far there are thirteen dwarves and a hobbit in my house. Is there anyone else coming?" Beorn asked.
"Well," Gandalf began, but was interrupted by a knock. He opened the door to see Runa, Nienna and Nora, all three covered with varying amounts of sparkles, soap and rose petals.
Raising an eyebrow at them as he faced them, Gandalf was only given three wide and angelic smiles in return and, with a sigh, he turned.
"As I was saying, there are some late additions tagging along." Beorn looked over the three girls curiously.
"Who are you?" he finally asked.
"Runa."
"Nienna!"
"BRYONY THE XANDU WIZARD!!!" They rattled off, the rest of the company silently facepalming as Nora introduced herself.
"Why are you covered in sparkles and flower petals?" he asked. Nora opened her mouth, about to rattle off a very well thought through excuse, but she was interrupted by a sharp knock on the door.
"Ah," said Gandalf with a smile, "that should be the last of them." He opened the door to reveal a panting Aelith and Avice who stumbled through, quickly shutting and bolting the heavy door behind them.
Upon their entrance, Beorn immediately tensed, sniffing the air suspiciously. Leaning down slightly, he looked at both girls and said,
"Orcs."
"What?" asked Gandalf in confusion.
"I smell orcs," Beorn explained, eyes narrowed. Aelith swallowed and glanced at her masked friend, replying,
"They are right behind us," she said, turning to Gandalf. "Hence our hurry. They didn't see us and they're not moving fast, but they're almost here."
Beorn stood quickly, moving to the door.
"Where are you going?" questioned Thorin.
"I must protect my livestock," returned Beorn, not looking back. "Bolt the door behind me and do not open it until dawn."
With that he walked out into the dimming sunset, the door swinging shut behind him.