"Don't you dare to even think about it!" Echoed a desperate shout down the natural staircase of the icy wall.
"You're not leaving me like this Thorin Oakenshield!" Bilbo whimpered as she desperately pressed the handkerchief against the wound.
"If more people..." He whispered with a raspy voice. "Loved their homes instead of gold..."
Bilbo tried to hush the dwarf but he continued. "The... World would be... A merrier place..."
"No no no! You can't give up now... The eagles are coming! Look! The eagles... The eag..."
The whimper turned into a whisper as the dwarf's body became limp. She could still hear the quiet, raspy breathing as she cried.
"Thorin... Please no... Someone... Someone help us!"
Bilbo cried out until her throat hurt. The raising sun made everything glow so bright that she could hardly see anything. Her eyes were clouded from the tears as she lied over the body of the dwarf she would had died for if she had been given a chance.
"You can't... You can't..." She kept whispering. Ignoring the loud echoing scream of an eagle.
"Good gracious! A hobbit!" A baffled voice closed in with a gust of wind. Bilbo raised her eyes and blinked in the sunlight.
"Gandalf... Get Gandalf! Thorin needs help!" She screamed to the brown figure approaching.
"Oh... Oh dear... This is bad..." Radagast the Brown leaned down over the dwarf. "He's dead..."
"No... Nononono!" Screamed Bilbo and the wizard leaned down to listen.
"Oh... No. I was wrong. He's just dying. Bad bad bad bad... Go get Gandalf." He said suddenly and Bilbo felt another gust of wind as the eagle screamed and lifted itself into air.
"Now I can't promise anything..." The wizard whispered as she dug his hand into the folds of his dirty, very brown robes conjuring up a little, dirtied vial. "But this should slow down his heart beat and... Bleeding. He... Might not make it though. It's a very bad wound..."
"Do it! What are you waiting for!" Bilbo shouted. "Help him!"
Radagast opened the vial and a smell, if possible, ever fouler than his, filled the air around them.
"Lift his head. He needs to swallow it..."
Bilbo lifted Thorin's head, pressing her thumb against his lower lip to force the mouth open.
"P-please drink it... Please swallow..."
The dwarf didn't move or show any sign of hearing the hobbit but suddenly she could feel the little heat there was left fade away and as Radagast begun treating the wound, pulling out a herb after herb from the dirty folds of his robes, the dwarf left out a sigh.
He ignored Bilbo's screams and shouts asking him what's going on. He didn't lift his eyes when the hobbit cried, tightly clenching to the body of the dwarf, hugging him while crying. Quietly he began chanting and whispering, hoping his spell would work.
Bilbo was sure he's gone. She knew no one could survive this. He was cold and breathed no more. The whispering spell faded away and the silence fell. The echoes from the battleground below felt far far away.
Radagast leaned back and sighed sadly. "I'm... Sorry... Cut like this..."
Bilbo sobbed, pressing her head against the chest of the royal dwarf. She cried until her head hurt and she couldn't see or hear anything. He was gone... He was...
Quietly. So quietly that Bilbo felt she must've imagined it she heard a heartbeat. She held her breath, her whole body tensing as she listened. It wasn't real... Couldn't had been. She imagined...
The second heartbeat. Third... She lifted her head just a little. Did she see him draw breath. Did she die out of sorrow herself?
The breathing was weak and raspy. Hardly a breath but it was there. She could feel the warmth return and suddenly the raising sun felt warm against her skin as well.
"T-Thorin? Radagast! He breathes!"
"Alive! Alive! He's alive!" The wizard yelled excited. "He breathes! He- I need to sew up that cut! I need to fix that wound!" He began his work again, shaking in excitement.
"Thorin!" She called out and lift up his head. She might've imagined it but he didn't look dead pale any more. Breath. Only a breath but it was more than she could ever ask for.
An eagle screamed and the cold wind blew over the three people on the ice as Gandalf landed and rushed in to help the brown wizard.
"We must take him to someplace warm. Move it! Get on an eagle Bilbo!"
When the hobbit got on top of the eagle Gandalf stopped Radagast just before they lift up.
"Why, Radagast?"
The brown wizard smiled. "Because it was real."
ABOUT FOUR HOURS LATER
The small hobbit stepped out of the tent into the cool night air. Her eyes were filled with tears as she tried to keep herself composed. The crowd around Dain spread as she walked to him. She was carrying Thorin's sword.
"Thorin Oakenshield..." She whispered with a broken voice as she offered the sword to the dwarf.
"Thorin Oakenshield is dead..."
20 MINUTES EARLIER:
Thorin opened his eyes slowly and drew a breath. Every place ached and his chest stung when he breathed. He laid his head against something soft. Pillow, when he thought about it. The air around him smelled of blood, fire and death but he could also smell herbs and... The hobbit.
The light was shining into his eyes and he closed them again, attempting to pull himself up. With a grunt he was able to sit up to lean against his elbows and looked around hazily. He felt dizzy and the pain was so intense he thought he'd throw up if he moved any more.
He could see nothing but some barrels and bloodied tools upon them. The tent he apparently was in was dark but warm and the only proper light was from the little oil lamp above his bed. Something warm was wrapped around his hand.
Thorin lied down again, looking to his right and smiling relieved when the dizziness and haziness faded slightly again. The warmness holding his hand belonged to the hand of a hobbit. His hobbit. Even more relieving was that it seemed the hobbit whom the hand belonged to seemed in one piece. There was a bandage around her head however.
Bilbo was sleeping, leaning against the side of Thorin's bed and holding his hand tightly in her sleep. Thorin couldn't see her face as she was facing towards the ground but her steady breathing made him feel safer. The battle was over...
He blinked slowly and squeezed her hand a little, wanting to make sure he wasn't just dreaming her up. With this pain and these wounds he didn't think he would.
The hobbit gasped and suddenly sat up the instant Thorin put a little pressure on her palm.
"Thorin!" She whispered as she opened her eyes and their eyes met. The dwarf gave her a faint smile but couldn't find his voice. The hobbit held his hand tighter and then looked down and closed her eyes, holding her breath until she couldn't any more and burst into a cry. She hugged him tight, leaning her body over his gently, careful about the wound but embracing him tightly, like she was afraid of him disappearing into the darkness again.
"Thorin. I'm so sorry... I couldn't help. They were everywhere and I got knocked out..."
"Bilbo..." Thorin whispered faintly and let go of her hand to touch her cheek as she leaned back embarrassed. She looked up at him and pressed her hand against his as he wiped her tears away with his thumb. Bilbo's face was dusty and the tears made tiny white trails down her face those Thorin then smudged again.
"Did we... Who..." Thorin tried to ask when the hobbit's tears faded, but it was hard for him to speak. It was as if someone had taken the skill away from him. The dizziness was fading though and his thoughts were becoming more clear.
"We won Thorin..." Bilbo smiled sadly. "The elves, river people... Even Beorn and the eagles joined the battle against orcs! Dain came and sweeped the field clean then. But Azok found you and tried to... I was there. I know you told me to stay away but if I hadn't been..."
The hobbit told Thorin everything she knew about the battle of five armies. How she had been hiding always near Thorin while he was battling and how when the fight seemed most desperate, the help came from unexpected places. She told him how Fili an Kíli had tried their utmost best to protect their uncle but how they both were wounded and now were being tended in another tent. When Thorin's face went grim and pale, she leaned above him and gently hugged him. "They're all right. They'll be okay..."
The battle had not been without casualties. Thorin listened pained as she told him of the fallen. His greed had caused this. Instead of listening to her and others he had tried to battle alone and brought so many people to danger's way. He could never rule dwarves. He wouldn't have the right to begin with. But that wasn't it... Was it? His quest was to unite the dwarves, to claim back Erebor and destroy Smaug. He'd been successful, right?
"...And now Dain is leading the dwarves. Most people think you're dead..." She finished her story and looked at him expectantly. He didn't know what to say. He should be dead. Dain would make a better king than him. He was blinded by greed...
"Do you... Would you like me to go tell them you're awaken?" She asked carefully when Thorin looked towards the ceiling, swallowing his tears.
"No..." He whispered and bit his teeth together. "I cannot face them. I was blind... I'm not fit to rule... I'm not... I cannot be the king under the mountain..."
"Thorin! Don't say that. You're the only one who can!"
The dwarf turned his face towards the hobbit and shook his head a little. "You know I wasn't planning to get this far to begin with... I've done what I set myself out to do... I have a heart of a traveler, not a king..."
"You have the heart of a hero..." She whispered. "And as long as I can help it, I want it to keep beating..."
"You knew of my plan... Did you not? Gandalf told you..."
"I knew..." She whispered. "But Gandalf did not tell me. I... I heard you talking to him. I'm sorry."
Thorin grinned. "You were eavesdropping."
The hobbit nodded and looked ashamed, not daring to face him. "I'm sorry..."
"You indeed are a special kind of a burglar, my hobbit..."
Thorin moved his fingers under Bilbo's chin and lifted her face up so she'd face him. She resisted a little but did so anyway, looking at him worried.
"I forgive you... But I'm sorry... I cannot make you the queen under the mountain."
Bilbo smiled brightly for the first time after he'd awoken. "Thank goodness. I was afraid I'd need to somehow grow a beard!"
Thorin smiled and stroked the hobbit's hair. What was the Arcenstone to a touch of someone who loved him so much?
"Dain will make a good king... I know Fili and Kíli will probably resist..."
"They won't..." Bilbo said. "They... I was supposed to tell you later. I promised them but... They've already left..."
"What?!" Thorin groaned after shouting this, speaking too loudly hurt his chest. How would this cut ever be healed?
"Please Thorin! They didn't... They told me to tell everyone they died! I'm sorry but I couldn't... They said they'd be in contact!"
"Left... To where?"
"Well... I think they just wanted to travel around... They left me with a note to Dís..."
"She'll murder me..." Thorin groaned.
"D-don't think about it... Please Thorin. It's all right! They're with the elf... Tauriel."
"I will murder THEM!" Thorin said louder. "Those kids will be the end of me..." Thorin felt angry they would do this, but it's what else would they do? They lived...
"What will I do..." He said quietly.
"Well..." Bilbo said and thought a while, scratching herself behind the ear. "I can go out there and tell Thorin Oakenshield lives or I can go tell them he's passed away like his nephews... Either way I'm going to... To be there until I'm dismissed..."
Thorin looked at her frowning, how would that even work... It can't be that easy...
The hobbit bit her lip and looked at him worried. Did she step over her boundaries?
"What will you do, hobbit?"
"It depends of what you'll have me do, Thorin..."
"You say I have a heart of a hero..." Thorin said. "Heroes cannot stay in castles else they fade and become ghosts. Heroes go away..."
The hobbit's face turned into a worried frown and she took Thorin's hand again.
"And me..?"
The dwarf smiled. "Well... I wouldn't be a hero if I had no one to save..."
"Oh! Fiddlesticks!" She stroked his hand. "Gandalf will know though... What will I tell them?"
Thorin stared at the ceiling again. "Go tell them... Tell them my last words..."
A FEW DAYS LATER
"...and there will be a celebration. Dancing, singing. And Thorin will become a legend!"
The hobbit stopped and looked sideways at the elderly dwarf desperately trying to make her stay.
"But that's not the Thorin I knew... To me... He was..." Her voice faded a little and she smiled a little then. "I best slip off then. Please send my goodbyes to the others."
"You can do that yourself, lass" The dwarf smiled as the hobbit turned around and laughed a little. The row of dwarves smiled back at her.
"Um... If you ever get near The Shire... The tea's at four..." She said and chuckled. "There's plenty of it... And... Don't bother knocking."
Ori suddenly dashed in and hugged Bilbo tight. "I'll miss you Bilbo! We... I mean... Dwalin and I..." The dwarf girl hesitated, as if expecting a chorus of resistant brothers to attack her.
"We'll... We'll come to see you soon. Okay?"
Bilbo smiled and nodded at the girl who was now sniffling against her shoulder.
"Also... Who is that..?" Ori suddenly asked, pointing at an armored dwarf waiting on a pony next to Bilbo's.
The hobbit let go of Ori and looked over her shoulder as if she'd never seen the armored man before. Nodding slowly at her, his face covered by his helmet.
"Oh. Just someone I hired for the voyage. It's a very long way back to The Shire and I'm just a burglar."
Ori blinked a few times but then smiled at the hobbit again, giving her another hug before running back to the other dwarves, sneaking a hand into Dwalin's as she waved a good bye to the burglar getting on top of her pony. The hired guardsman looked towards the company for a while before turning his mount to follow Bilbo's.
Much much later, only when Ori was alone with Dwalin, she dared to mention how much the mercenary's sword resembled Orcrist.