Beastly || Legolas

six

"Does it hurt when you change into a cat?" The question had come from one of the younger dwarves. Namir took a second before recalling that this one was Kili. His brother Fili was standing not too far away, watching as his brother approached the skin-changer with a wary eye.  The young dwarf smelt a bit like silver and berries, which was a strange combination. His brother shared the silver tinge, as did their uncle, but Thorin smelt of silver and charcoal while Fili smelt more like silver and rain. Namir had learnt to tell all the dwarves apart by now and had been greeted with their names. He had been amused to find that the trio of Ri (Ori, Dori and Nori) dwarves were also all brothers. They shared a scent not dissimilar to that of wool. While Dwalin and Balin smelt more of leather and Oin and Gloin smelt more like brass. Bifer and Bofer had a slight spice to their scent that made it easy to pick them out despite smelling mostly like metal. And Bombur smelt more like smoke from a campfire, rather than the smoke of mines. 

Namir pondered the question for a second. He leaned back in the swinging seat, the afternoon sun shining down rather nicely on that patch. The last heat of autumn was finally ebbing and he was making use of his swing to soak up every last drop. "Not really. It used to, back when I first learnt how to control my form. But now it is almost as easy as breathing". 

Kili nodded and took a seat on the grass as the swing rocked gently. Around them the bees bussed lazily around the flowers. Fili pushed one away from his head as he came to sit next to his brother. "Do you know the Mirkwood well Mr cat?" 

Namir made a purring sound as he lounged in the sun, content and warm. "I have been exploring the Mirkwood for almost a thousand years". 

"A thousand years?" Kili gasped. "How long do you live?" 

Namir shrugged. "Beorn is over seven thousand years old. When the orcs enslaved our kind it was during the time Sauron was alive. After his defeat, the very last skin-changers rose up against their weakened captors in a revolt. That was when he found me, not more than a few months old. I guess that we can live for as long as the elves but we do not know for all our elders are dead". 

"But Sauron was defeated over three thousand years ago!"

Namir grinned at the dwarves, one eye shut and the other fixing them with his unblinking stare. "It's rude to ask someone their age". Then he opened both eyes and his gaze flickered to the dwarves approaching them. Ori was wearing a nervous expression on his face and was partially hidden behind Gloin. The russet haired dwarf was carrying a plate of steaming rolls. Namir sat up and rolled over, regardless of how the movement sent the seat shining, and reached out eagerly to snatch one up. 

"Bombur had been making use of your honey supplies", Gloin greeted. "Thorin says we are to rest here and recover from our injuries before we set out for the Mirkwood". He handed out the rolls to Fili and Kili and sat down on the grass with them. Namir inhaling the honey rolls with enthusiasm and licking the residue from his fingers. 

"These are good", he commented. "Beorn can just about manage bread but if we want something baked then it's my job. Give him my compliments". 

Gloin nodded happily. The group's visible wariness towards Namir was slowly fading. "I shall pass it along lad". 

Namir fixed his eyes on the plate again. Kili was reaching for a second roll but before he could touch it, Namir's hand swooped in and snatched it. "Hey!" the dwarf cried as Namir cradled his prize to his chest. If this form had a tail, it would be swaying in triumph. Fili and Gloin both laughed as Namir stuffed the bread into his cheeks. 

"If you don't mind me asking, but what kind of cat are you Mr Namir?" Ori's voice was quiet but his eyes were curious. Namir stopped his staring contest with Kili to look at him. 

"Apparently I look similar to a breed of beast from the south. Apparently they are called panthers, but as you could see from Beorn's form, we don't look exactly like most animals". Ori nodded at the explanation, reaching inside his coat to pull out a pencil and notebook. Namir watched the end of the pencil as the Dwarf noted stuff down, resisting the urge to bite it. 

"How come Beorn has no control over his bear?" Fili voiced. "But you seem in control of yours". 

"Beorn had been through many hardships and they left a scar. I have not had such a life so the cat and human coexist. Also we are different animals with different temperaments". As he spoke he reached out to poke the moving end of the pencil. Ori froze and the pencil stopped. Namir poked the end once more before becoming disinterested. He turned his attention back to lazing in the sun. 

"Why now are you going back to Erebor?" He asked. "The dragon will not sleep forever".

There was silence within the small group of dwarves. Finally Gloin spoke up. "We are growing old. Those who once called Erebor their home are gaining silver hair and the youth don't know it's golden halls. It's time we took back our homeland". 

Namir hummed as a bee flew over and landed on his chest for a second before flying away. "I wanted to visit Erebor before it's fall but Beorn wouldn't let me leave these lands before I was three thousand. He's a bit overprotective in that way. We could see the smoke from here though, smell it on the wind. Once I have led you through the woods, your king has agreed to let me explore your halls. It's exciting". 

There was a deep chuckle and Balin came round the tree. He sat on the other side of Ori, the dwarves now in a semicircle facing the swing. Namir didn't acknowledge his presence, having known that the old dwarf was there the whole time. "I am sure your curiosity will be fed lad". 

"Balin, he's over three thousand years old", Kili whispered loudly. 

"Aye but he's still a youngster for his kind", Balin chuckled. "They don't come of age till their a thousand years old, according to Gandalf". 

"Like elves?" Fili frowned. "So how old would he be if he was a dwarf?" 

"There is no need to point out my youth", Namir grumbled, eyes still closed. He had one arm under his head and only wore his leather trousers. The bare skin of his feet was toughened by years of no shoes and his skin was slightly tinged gold from the sun. His hair had been brushed that morning but once again the waves had tangled themselves up. He looked remarkably human with his eyes closed. Much like a human youth, barely out of his teens. 

"How come you have no body hair?" Kili blurted with a frown. "Beorn had great big eyebrows and a beard. You don't even have whiskers". Fili smacked him round the back of the head for being rude.

Namir's eyes snapped open and he sat up with a growl, mood suddenly flipping. He shook his hair out of his face and turned to face the dwarf. "You see my ears?" He pushed his hair aside to show off the slightly tipped points. The dwarves all nodded. Beorn's hair hid his ears from sight so the dwarves had just assumed that both Skin-changers had slightly pointed ears like an elf. "Beorn has round ears, if you can find them under his hair. We believe that my father had been an elf". 

"So you're only half skin-changer?" Ori spoke slowly, hesitantly. 

Namir scowled. "I am full skin-changer. What my sire was never important. We first thought him to be a human but then my ears grew more pointed and I never grew a beard so he must have been an elf. But it is of no matter. I can change just like my mother and that makes me a skin changer". He stood from his swing in a fluid moment. "Enough of these questions. They are begging to irritate me. Does anyone want to play a game?" He grinned and it was sharp. 

Fili and Kili nodded and Namir's grin grew. "How about hide and seek?"

unedited

a lot of Namir's behaviour is based off my own cats. one of them liked to attack moving pens, especially  when I'm writing.