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"W-wait... what?" Valadhiel asked after a brief moment of silence. She was still trying to get her brain wrapped around what this skinchanger had just said to her. "My mother... my mother was your half sister? Why did she never tell me? And how is it that she was married to a dragon? If she wasn't a dragon to begin with, then the fact she fell in love with one just sounds... wrong."

"She was part dragon to begin with." Beorn explained with a small sigh. "When she was young, she was taken by orcs. They managed to somehow mutate her, and it caused her to become part dragon. Thanks to the mutation, she escaped from them and returned home."

Valadhiel clenched her teeth and a fist at the mention of orcs. She supposed that the only good that had come out of it was... no, nothing good had come out of it. Yes, her father had been the best father she could have asked for, but he had changed greatly. Being part dragon was neat, but no one liked dragons, therefore, she could live without being a dragon. It might have made her life easier. After a moment, she looked up at Beorn, who had gotten to his feet once more. "That... that makes you my uncle."

Beorn paused from scrambling some eggs before he gave a slight nod. "I hadn't thought about that fact until now. Yes, that does make me your uncle."

Valadhiel smiled a little before she climbed up onto a stool at the tall counter. "I'm glad. It's good to know that I have at least some family left, even if only one family member." She said quietly, looking down at her hands as she twiddled her thumbs. "Does... does this mean you know who my father is?"

Beorn began scrambling the eggs again. "Yes, and I would assume you don't want his name mentioned to anyone." He commented before placing the scrambled eggs in a bowl. He now had many plates of food set out. Scrambled eggs, toast, bacon, sausage, pancakes, and a bowl of fruit, and he had pitchers of milk and different juices set out.

"That would be very much appreciated." Valadhiel replied with a nod, then she furrowed her brow before she looked at her uncle again. "Something doesn't add up. Skinchangers don't live as long as dragons or elves. How is it possible that you're still alive?"

Beorn was about to speak, though before he could, Gandalf walked into the kitchen. Beorn and Valadhiel both looked over at him.

"Ah, I see that you have met Vala." The old wizard commented as he walked into the kitchen then leaned on his staff. "And I get the feeling that she has already told you quite a lot about why we are here."

Beorn looked at Valadhiel, then he looked at Gandalf once again. "You must be the wizard she told me about. Yes, I have heard some of why you are here, though I'm sure you and the dwarf king will wish to discuss more of it with me."

"Oh, there will be more discussion. I shared a lot, but not everything." Valadhiel replied, then she looked over at Beorn again. She wished that she had met him much, much sooner. She would have felt much better all those years ago knowing that she still had family out there. At least she had finally gotten to meet him now.

~<3~<3~<3~

The other dwarves had woken by now, and they all sat around a very large table with Valadhiel as they ate breakfast. Beorn was pouring a glass of milk for Fili before looking up when Bilbo walked in.

"Now this is a creature I haven't seen before." Beorn commented. "He's short like a dwarf, but has no beard, nor does he wear shoes. The most hair on him other than his head is on his feet."

Bilbo blinked and seemed unsure of what to even say in response. "I'm... I'm a Hobbit." He managed to get out before he walked over to the table with the others. He climbed up into a seat next to Valadhiel, who sat next to Fili, who sat next to Kili.

Valadhiel chuckled and looked over at Beorn. "They live in a peaceful place called the Shire. There are several of them, and it doesn't seem that they're known very well outside of Bree Town." After she finished speaking, she looked over when she heard the familiar sound of Thorin's feet.

Beorn had listened to Valadhiel, and he was about to speak as he served Bilbo a plate full of food and a cup full of milk, but he then noticed another dwarf walk in. He knew exactly who this dwarf was. "So you are the one they call Oakenshield. Tell me, why is Azog the Defiler hunting you?"

Thorin looked at Beorn and gave a slight look of suspicion. "You know of Azog? How?"

"My people were the first to live in the mountains, before the orcs came down from the north. The Defiler killed most of my family, but some he enslaved." Beorn explained as he got a plate of food for Thorin. "Not for work, you understand, but for sport. Caging skinchangers and torturing them seemed to amuse him."

Valadhiel clenched her jaw again. She hated that Pale Orc even more than ever after hearing of the evil deeds he'd done to skinchangers. And it wasn't just them. It was her mother, it was the dwarves, and if he wasn't stopped, he would wrong every race of Middle-Earth.

"There are others like you?" Bilbo asked curiously, looking up from his plate.

"Once there were many." Beorn answered in a nostalgic tone of voice.

"And now?"

"Now, there are only two." Beorn gestured to Valadhiel. "My niece and I are the last of our kind."

"Vala's your niece?" Dwalin asked, looking over at Valadhiel questioningly.

"You never told us that, lass." Bofur commented.

Valadhiel chuckled. "That's because I only just found out this morning." She explained quietly, glancing away when everyone kept staring at her. However, her face flushed when she caught Thorin staring over at her. She spread her wings out slightly, then she winced and drew the injured one in again.

"Careful with that wing." Oin scolded. "It isn't healed up all the way, and it won't heal if you keep moving it."

Beorn walked over, gently took Valadhiel's injured wing into his large hands, and gently ran a finger over it. "Stay right here." He told her, then he left the room. Soon, he reentered, holding a needle and some thread. "I'll warn you, this may hurt. Spread your wing out as far as you're able."

Valadhiel did as told, biting her lower lip when pain shot through part of her wing. She bit down even harder when Beorn began to stitch it up, but she said nothing, and didn't even make a sound. Her wing needed stitched so it would heal faster, so she wouldn't complain.

"You need to reach the mountain before the last days of autumn?" Beorn asked Gandalf without even looking up from his stitching.

"Before Durin's Day falls, yes." Gandalf answered from where he stood.

"You are running out of time."

"Which is why we must go through Mirkwood."

Valadhiel's eyes widened. "Mirkwood? Gandalf, are you certain of that?"

"I would have to agree with Valadhiel. A darkness lies upon that forest." Beorn said, glancing back at Gandalf and then finishing the off the stitches on Valadhiel's wing. "Fell things creep beneath those trees. There is an alliance between the orcs of Moria and the Necromancer in Dol Guldur. I would not venture there except in great need."

"We will take the elven road." Gandalf replied. "That path is safe."

"Safe?" Valadhiel furrowed her brow. "Gandalf..."

"The Wood-Elves of Mirkwood are not like their kin." Beorn interrupted, setting the needle and thread aside as he looked at the wizard, rising to his full height. "They're less wise and more dangerous."

"And more blonde..." Valadhiel muttered, earning a few chuckles and snickers from a few of the dwarves, Kili, Fili, Bofur, and Dwalin included. She noticed Thorin smirk a little, though he was trying to remain serious.

"But it matters not." Beorn added.

Thorin's smirk faded completely as he looked at Beorn. "What do you mean?"

"These lands are crawling with orcs. Their numbers are growing, and you are on foot. You will never reach the forest alive."

"Not to be disrespectful, Uncle Beorn, but we have already escaped three giant trolls, packs of orcs and wargs, the goblins and Goblin King himself, and Azog with his pack of wargs and fellow orcs." Valadhiel said, turning in her chair to look at him. "And they have a dragon with them. I'm sure we will be able to make it to the forest. And if not, I'm sure we would all die trying." She then gave him a look that said, 'If you can help us, please do so.'

Beorn turned to face Thorin, standing at his full height. "I don't like dwarves. They're greedy and blind, blind to the lives they deem lesser than their own." He picked up a mouse that had begun crawling on the table and placed it in his palm. "But orcs I hate more. What do you need?"

~<3~<3~<3~

Valadhiel sat on a stump outside as she stared off into the sunset. In fact, the stump had just been made a stump by Beorn earlier that day. The elf looked up when she heard someone walk over, and she smiled when she saw her uncle.

Beorn sat down next to her on the ground and was quiet before he spoke. "You look down. Is something wrong?"

Valadhiel sighed softly. "I'm simply not looking forward to going to Mirkwood. The elves there know what I am- for the most part. Dragon, skinchanger, and elf. They see me as an impure mongrel; not a true elf. Long ago I was forbidden from entering their kingdom ever again, and I planned to stay away. Now, I'm headed off to the forest with a bunch of dwarves."

Beorn nodded softly. "I see. And I highly doubt that the Elvenking has come to his senses. May the Valar be with you as you venture into their kingdom."

Valadhiel smiled. "Thank you." She then furrowed her brow and was quiet a moment before she spoke once more. "About the Valar... earlier, you said that my mother was part Valar. How can that be? I'm certainly no angelic being."

Beorn chuckled. "But you are. Whether you like it or not, and whether you're willing to accept it or not, you are a part of the Valar. It is most likely the reason you are capable of taking more than one animal form."

"That... is difficult to grasp." Valadhiel said quietly as she looked out into the distance once more. An angelic being? Yet an elf, a skinchanger, and a dragon?

Beorn pulled something out of his pocket after a moment before he took Valadhiel's hand. He placed a metal object into her palm. "This was your mother's. I thought you might like it."

Valadhiel looked at the metal object that had been placed in her palm, then she drew it closer so she could look at it. It was the face of a wildcat with its mouth open and fangs exposed, it had golden eyes, and it was on a chain. "It's beautiful... I love it. Thank you." She said, looking from the necklace to Beorn with a smile.

Beorn smiled and gently took the necklace from her before he unclasped it and slipped it on around her neck. Once he clasped it again, he gently moved her hair over the chain so that the necklace would rest on her comfortably. "Beranwyn loved that necklace. Though she chose to become a dragon in the end, she truly loved being a skinchanger more than anything."

"If she loved it so much, then why did she choose to become a dragon?" Valadhiel asked, looking from the necklace to her uncle.

"It was the only way to protect her people- or so she thought." Beorn replied. "It did help protect us for awhile, but Azog hadn't died like we thought he had. He hunted your mother down, and you know the rest."

Valadhiel looked down a little before she nodded. "Yes, I do. And one of these days, Azog the Defiler will be no more, and Bolg will be gone, too."

"Just don't become consumed by revenge, Vala." Beorn told her, patting her shoulder before he got to his feet. "It can do some nasty things to even the best of people."

Valadhiel looked up at Beorn, then she nodded. "I'll be careful. The last thing I want is to change who I am because of a grudge."

Gandalf walked out of the house after Valadhiel spoke. The sun had set by this time and the stars were twinkling in the sky. "Vala, Thorin wants you to come back inside and get some rest. I would have to agree with him. You're still healing up, so you need plenty of rest before we set off again."

Valadhiel looked at Gandalf when he walked out and spoke, then nodded when he finished speaking. "I'll be right there." She assured the wizard before she stood and turned to Beorn with a smile. "Goodnight, Uncle Beorn."

Beorn smiled back and gently patted the short elf's hair. "Goodnight, Niece Vala."

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