Another Love

I. The Meeting

Gandalf and the company waited for their hobbit to return to them. They were growing weary, others more so than the rest, while the wizard among dwarves searched the forest around them.

Thorin Oakenshield noticed his distracted behaviour and turned his gaze to the trees behind him. Nothing. Wizards, all mysterious and confusing. 

"Is there something we should be worried about Gandalf?" The dwarf questioned, catching the attention of his companions.

The older man raised an eyebrow, "Of course not, Thorin," He croaked, turning towards the opening in the bushes where Bilbo Baggins had run off into, "Unless you think a Wandering Wizard and skin-changer is something to be worried about." The wizard mumbled, being heard by Thorin only.

The hobbit popped up from behind the trees, looking quite concerned.

Thorin stepped forward with a frown, "How close is the pack?"

"Too close," Bilbo breathed, "A couple of leagues, no more. But that's not the worst of it."

"Have the orcs picked up our scent?" Dwalin, another dwarf, asked with a rush.

Bilbo shook his head, "Not yet, bet they will do. We have another problem."

"Did they see you? They saw you." This time Gandalf questioned.

The hobbit huffed, feeling a little frustrated with his friends, "No, that's not it."

"Good, what did I tell you? Quiet as a mouse. Excellent burglar material."

The dwarves quickly agreed with the wizard, ignoring Bilbo for the moment. It seemed they weren't very worried about his expression and what he was trying to tell them. Why were dwarves and wizards so dismissive?

"Will you listen!" Bilbo interrupted, "I'm trying to tell you there is something else out there."

Gandalf frowned, "What form did it take? Like a bear?"

"Ye...yes, but bigger. Much bigger." It was clear Gandalf knew more then he was letting on, but when didn't he?

"You knew about this beast?" Bofur wondered though not getting an answer in response, "I say we double back." He turned to Thorin.

The dwarf shook his head, "We'll be run down by a pack of Orcs." He told his company calmly.

"There is a house," Gandalf suggested, "It's not far from here, where we might take refuge." He was a dangerous man but only in one of his forms, when he was in human form he could be quite agreeable. The wizard just hoped he was in a good mood when he changed back.

But there was someone else that was staying with the skin-changer, someone like him that he had not seen in a while. He also hoped he was in a good mood.

"Whose house? Are they friend or foe?" Thorin asked, concerned for his company's safety.

"Neither. He will help us or he will kill us."

"What choice do we have?"

In the distance, there was a roar of an animal nearby and it sent the group into a quiet frenzy of fear. First Orcs and now bears? What was next?

"None," Gandalf spoke before they all set off into a sprint, following the tall wizard as best they could. Yes, he had the body of a sixty-year-old man but he could run like the wind.

Something chased after them with inhuman speed causing adrenalin to course through their veins and momentarily forget the fact that they weren't fit to run a marathon at all.