Amara Baggins

Borin and the Tree Elves

The dwarves quietly ran around and Bilbo acted as scout. Amara was strapped to Thorin's back but he could feel the feverish heat from her face. Oin had worried over her. He warned that if she got much worse they could lose her. They tried the plant trick they usually did but for some reason it wouldn't work. Bilbo came back from scouting out of breathe and a stuttering mess.
"What did you see out there, boy?" Gandalf asked exasperatedly as the dwarves tried to guess
"Orcs?! How many?!" Dwalin demanded
"N-no..." Bilbo tried to say as he attempted to catch his breathe
"Spit it out, hobbit!" Gloin demanded
Bofur moved closer to Bilbo.
"Well maybe if you lot shut up, he could speak." Amara whispered
Everyone snapped their head to her
"Amara, you're conscious." Bilbo said moving closer to her
"Not for long. Where are we? What's going on?!" Amara asked weakly
"There is a huge bear out there chasing the orcs that were following us." Bilbo finally said
Gandalf nodded. "There is a home not to far from here."
"Does this home belong to friend or foe?!" Thorin snarled not liking how Gandalf was acting so secretive
"It doesn't matter. If we stay here the orcs will be upon us before we can find cover." Amara said slowly closing her eyes more and more before her breathing began to wheeze
Balin came forward.
"You did good, lass. You rest up. Oin will fix you up in no time." Balin said as Thorin watched her flushed face worriedly
"Don't let them die." Amara said deliriously clasping onto Thorin's braid
The other dwarves looked confused until Dwalin came up next.
"We promise, Amara. They'll be fine when you wake." Dwalin said as Amara finally passed out
The look in Thorin's eyes said they would have to explain later. They all began to follow Gandalf. They saw the house but the bear saw and gave chase. The dwarves hit the door but couldn't reach the latch. Thorin jumped and hit the latch making Amara groan at being jarred and woken up. They all raced inside and tried to slam the door shut as the bear pushed against it. Amara reached into pack and took the first thing she had her hand on and hit the bear on the nose with it. The door slammed shut and the latch clicked down. The dwarves fell back and began to catch their breathe. Thorin stared at Amara's hand in disbelief.
"You hit the bear on the nose with a frying pan." Thorin said incredulously
Amara grinned cheekily
Kili and Fili began laughing which started off the others. Bilbo shook his head before taking the pan out of her hand.
"Mama Baggins thumping pan. It's been passed down in the Baggins family for generations. This pan has seen many adventures with the women folk of our clan." Bilbo said
"Never go walking without the pan you never know what trouble you're bound to meet. Grandma never lied." Amara said before blood began to leak out of her mouth and she passed out
Thorin and the others quickly got her off and laid down on a bed of straw they found.
"Why won't she heal?!" Thorin demanded of Oin
"It has to be some kind of poison. The bastard must have used some kind of poison." Oin muttered
"Brother, do you have the herbs you need for something like this?" Gloin asked
"No. If Amara was a dwarf then yes we would be able to get this under control and start her healing. I've tried our methods it doesn't work. Fili, Kili see if you can't get a bath going. Maybe if we clean Amara up the poison will seep out as well." Oin suggested
The cleaning process took hours. The beginning was filled with loud, painful screams from Amara as her wounds were being scrubbed clean of debris and poison. Finally Amara was in a almost coma-like state as she slept. The following day the dwarves and Bilbo met Borin. Borin admonished Gandalf for the improper care of taking care of a hobbit. Borin started a new bath of warm water before setting the hobbit sized tub under direct sunlight. Borin then went to a waste bin filled with fruit and vegetable peelings and began to put orange and cucumber peelings in the water. He added dried rosemary and thyme. Borin gently lifted an unconscious Amara and laid her in the water. A dog walking on his hind legs came and dropped rose petals in the water. The water smelled like fruit and flowers. The dwarves believed they had cleaned everything off of her before but the water began to slowly turn black as orcs blood.
"The healing she gets from the plants will work now. The little bunny was poisoned with orcs blood. Its all gone now. A fresh bath and a healing ritual and the young one will be up in a few hours." Borin said as he lifted Amara from the tub as animals dragged it away to discard and refill with the same concoction
Amara was fully awake by lunch much to everyone's relief.
"Did I kill him?" Amara asked quietly as the room turned silent
Bilbo went to his pack and dug to find a small box. When he returned, Bilbo kneeled in front of her and opened the box. Inside the box was a thick mithril bracelet with golden runic etchings. Bilbo had tears in his eyes as he began something that his mother should have been the one to do. Amara stared wide eyed as tears formed.
"Amara Baggins-Took on this day you have avenged many a victim as well as the last protector of our great Shire. You have mastered the art of stealth, hobbitry, and weaponry. You have followed in our mother's footsteps as your swore to do before our Thain. You have stayed true to yourself and have been gracious as well as brave and strong. Though our previous Protector cannot be here to complete the ritual for you as her apprentice. I shall do so in her stead. With this bracelet you shall gain your mark and graduate to Protector as the one before you. Do you, Amara Baggins-Took accept this honor?" Bilbo stated as the dwarves watched
Some were confused but the others understood this as an honor bound ritual. Amara was finally being freed of her past.
"I do." Amara said clearly
"Then may your mark choose you well." Bilbo said with a smile before placing the bracelet on Amara's wrist
The bracelet glowed red before dark lines formed up Amara's arms. The lines formed vines with flower buds that had yet to bloom but the vines continued on until they formed a lions head. The dwarves noticed that vines seemed to move like in a breeze and then the lion roared. The tattoo flashed red then black.
"The ritual is complete. Welcome to Amara Baggins-Took, Protector of the Shire, Champion of the Gods, and member of the Company of Thorin Oakenshield. Long may your reign of protection be." Bilbo said
Amara smiled before tears fell and Bilbo hugged her.
The dwarves and Borin clapped and congratulated the young hobbit. Amara smiled freely and breathes a free breath as a part of her mission is complete. Azog is dead and now all they have to worry about is Being, son of Azog. He'll be leading the final battle so they had a little breathing room for a bit. The Company stayed with Borin for a few days. Amara refused to deal with the spiders. She hated spiders in this life and the last. Borin let her use his kitchen to make a cream for Thranduil. It would help with dragon scarring on his face. It would also weaken the evil bindings on his mind. Amara knew the only way to help the Mirkwood was to destroy the ring. Dragon fire was able to destroy mostly anything but she hoped that divine intervention would fix the rest of the occurrences to come. It was now time to move into the woods. Borin loaned the Company his horses on the condition they were released before entering the Woods. Much of their journey was the same except for Amara tying the Company together except Bilbo. Amara was deathly ill the entire three day trip through Mirkwood. One night they stopped and Thorin pulled Amara close to him.