After the adventure
"Mr. Chizbeorn? Can I ask ye something?"
Renfred looked up at the hobbit and Beorning striding ahead of him on the path. The party had fought well that day, destroying a few small camps of orcs on the North Downs, and they had almost reached the Ranger Mincham's camp, where they could spend what was left of the night.
"Eh, Merrywillow?"
"Iffen ye're bear folk, how come ye don't turn into a bear like Jarn?"
Renfred had noticed, too, how differently the two Beornings behaved. Not that he would have dared address Chizbeorn so directly-- he knew that his Em would deem such a question "nosy".
After a moment, Chizbeorn replied, "I don't like getting angry." He paused. "Not like Jarn, who is angry all the time."
Jarngrimur, lumbering ahead in bear-form, grunted.
Merrywillow kept on. "Ah. And to be a bear ye gotta be angry?"
"I do - not all Beornings, mayhap. But I have to be angry to change form."
Trebble piped up, "I don't like getting angry either. I prefer getting even."
"Thank you," said Merrywillow. "I like knowin' things." Renfred smiled to himself. Hobbit charm allowed them to be daringly curious.
As they approached the camp, Jarngrimur reassumed his man-form. "I'm not sure you have ever seen me really angry," he said, with a bearish grin at Chizbeorn. "Sometime we'll have to commiserate over the duality of the changeling. Sometime when I'm steaming drunk."
This made Merrywillow chuckle. "I think Jarn is part dwarf!"
Jarngrimur growled, "Beware, that could be a deadly insult to some Beorning-folk."
Merrywillow said, "But you are a bear!"
Jarngrimur frowned at the hobbit. "I am a Beorning-folk. Bears are animals. If you ever want to tell the difference between a Beorning and a bear, ask them for a honey-cake." His eyes glinted in the moonlight. "If they give you a honey-cake, they are Beorning. If they rip your face off, could go either way."
((I won't be around the next two Saturdays, planning to return on 24 July. I'll try to catch up on the Wednesday evening sessions. Take care, Bearclaws!))
Renfred Greysmith
Former blacksmith of Combe
Best fry-pans in all of Bree-land