The Fire caves
(Part 1)
By
Me
(Please note that this is a continuation of the story Green Leaf.)
*Please also note that there is a lot of m/m action going on so I can put the quartet in the tags.
*Also, the same BS I wrote for the first installment of this venture still applies here. If you don't like it,
move on. There is a touch of incest in this story.
"I don't know lad…" Balin whispered addressing Thorin though his eyes traveled up and down the visible river bank and the spread formation of the other dwarfs. "….If we go around, it will probably cost us a day or two of travel." He looked up at him then with tired brown eyes.
Thorin held his hand to his mouth, his calloused index finger lightly touching his lips. He cupped his elbow with the other hand. He stared at the chest high water moving fast; just shy of white rapids. The air had a bite to it; bitter and stinging. He was sure that the fast flowing water would feel the same, or worse.
Dwalin, standing to the right of Thorin muttered gruffly, "If we go through, it may cost us one or two dwarfs…"
Gloin, behind them added, while hooking his thumbs into his belt, "Or all of us…"
"Aye…" Dwalin and Balin said almost in unison while latter looked out to the waterfall to the west and Balin looked to the north with his hand rubbing down his snowy beard thoughtfully.
Thorin turned his eyes without moving his head and looked at Bofur who was standing by himself solemnly, starting down into the water. The Halfling, Thorin noticed, was not too far from him, like an animal sensing someone's mood perhaps. He removed his hand from his mouth and moved it to the hilt of his blade and walked slowly to the water. He had to push hard to get Bofur out of his mind but duty called for it without question; something wasn't right about the land.
He lifted his head, getting a little closer to the water. The splatter hit him faintly on the face while the growing wind bit his cheeks and brow. He looked up the pine dotted rocky cliff on the opposite side and licked his lips. "Ash…" The trees did not look healthy either; white and withdrawn, like a starving body. He turned suddenly and looked up at the cliff they had just descended then back to the cliff facing them. They were drastically different.
"There has been a fire…" he said, raising his hand, getting the attention of the few dwarfs nearby. He looked around at the ground, it looked scorched. The other dwarfs nearby did the same, kicking their boots slightly over the crusty but sodden earth.
"Probably a lighting strike burning the ground quick…the river almost certainly extinguished it…" Bomber muttered.
Bilbo looked around at Thorin and Bomber and his light brow creased. How did they know? Bilbo saw nothing out of the ordinary. Of course, it could be because he was exhausted and because his body was surely ten or maybe 15 degrees, "But at least ten degrees…" lower than it should be. He rubbed his arms fast and ambled over to the growing group, aware that Bofur was following him at a respectful distance.
Dwalin stood with his arms crossed, staring up at the side they needed to climb, chewing something that looked like sap to Bilbo and then said curtly "It had to be up there too…" He pointed a long club like arm up along the horizon of that ridge.
Thorin looked at Bilbo standing between Dwalin and Bifur. His jaw muscles tightened, hidden by his thick, trimmed, dark, and age spattered hair that covered the strong area. He crossed his arms, much like Dwalin and stared at him, thinking. First his thoughts were on his hair and face; dirty like a child after a mud fight following a rainy night. His jacket, which had been lush and maroon when he left the Shire, was now mottled with various water stains and spatters of mire and oozing mysteries from their journey thus far.
The elves had done nothing to offer them creature comfort, like bathing, aside from scores of bowls that may as well been filled with nothing; the elves ate like gazelles and "Like gazelles…" Thorin thought, "Are best when hunted and shot with an arrow to their hearts…" He was hungry. He was sure they all were as he looked out around him. They had to ration their food. They all knew it. But they all looked a little leaner; even the great Bombur's face had a slightly more sculpted look. He was hoping that the woodlands atop the ridge would have something they could cut down. He did not hear Dwalin's assumption because he was too busy musing about the hobbit.
Thorin exhaled through his nose then pointed at Bilbo "Master Baggins, walk with me." He said, turning on his heel to put distance between himself and the rest of the group. Bilbo would follow but only because he stood amongst Thorin's dwarfs. Indeed he could hear Balin, "Go on lad…" And then he heard a gasp from the hobbit, no doubt pushed along by Dwalin who was three or even four times his diminutive size. Thorin stood by the edge of the trees that they had emerged from and put his foot up on a rock and crossed his hands in front of his waist. He looked out, watching the hobbit nervously approaching while Bofur, trying to appear obscure, watched from the corner of his dark eyes, trying to hide amongst the bodies of the other dwarfs.
Bilbo rung his hands while approaching the dwarf king, who looked like - "Well what does he look like? Nothing on Middle Earth that I have ever seen…" As Bilbo approached, he noticed he was breathing heavier than he needed to and bit his lips to try to control it. As he reached Thorin, he looked up into his forget-me-not blue eyes and swallowed hard. He looked quickly back to the other dwarfs, who had given their king his privacy by turning their backs on the conversing pair. Bilbo looked up to him once more and shoved his trembling hands into his pockets.
He too was looking at the other dwarfs, "Or one in particular…" Bilbo thought. Thorin's leeriness of Bofur suddenly could not have been lost to everyone but him. Thorin was avoiding him as if he got close, he would burn where he stood like a moth too close to evening lanterns. His wings going up in brisk flames like paper dropped in a roaring fire. Bilbo shifted on his large, cold feet then pursed his lips as those eyes looked backed to him.
Thorin noted the hobbits shuddering features and assumed it was because of the cold and not because of any fear of him. "He's brave for one so small…he should have been a dwarf…or an elf…his face looks so soft…" He cleared his throat, masking his sudden self-rebuke by doing so. He hooked his thumbs into his thick belt, watching the hobbit watch him do it.
"What is he saying?" Thorin said finally, jumping the smaller being.
Bilbo looked up at him with a raised brow and a grim line set to his mouth. He knew what he meant but was unsure of letting the dwarf king know how much he observed, "Books could do that for people…make them smarter…this lot could do with a great deal of it…" Bilbo thought then tried to keep the quiver out of his voice and asked "Who is saying what precisely?" He was surprised to see the dwarf actually smile. He did look like a king. His strong features matched with a majestic voice must have been learned and nurtured from his father and grandfather. But his musings were cut short by the dwarf leaning down to his face. Bilbo thought for one fleeting moment that Thorin meant to kiss his cheek or brow.
"Do not play coy with me Halfling, what is Bofur saying?" Thorin asked, looking into the hobbits eyes.
"Oh…" Bilbo thought. The words struck him like the hilt of Thorin's sword on his reflections, shattering any further notion that he was no more than brainless muscle, "Attractive brainless muscle…" he started to think to himself. "N...Nothing…" Bilbo stuttered. He knew Thorin was referring to whatever happened a few nights ago at Rivendell. He shrunk a little more inside as the dwarf tipped his head forward, capturing him with those eyes and offering a silent invitation for him to keep talking. "He's saying nothing about anything!" Bilbo said hurriedly, almost tripping over the speed in which he said the words. They fell out of his trembling lips like milk spraying from a suddenly upturned jug.
Thorin let his eyes wonder over the hobbits face, noting the small dint in his chin below his lips and above them, below his small upturned nose. He stood up slightly and looked at his curling hair "Like the rivers of gold yet to be bathed of their muddy casings within the depths of Erebor…" He thought. He smirked at his poor poetry then raised his hand suddenly to the hobbits hair.
Bilbo ducked because he thought he meant to strike him. He grabbed onto Thorin's raised wrists with both hands and squeezed with unnoticed results. His hands closed around the armor and he gasped as Thorin looked at him quizzically.
"Do you think I mean to hurt you Halfling?" Thorin asked.
Bilbo felt the Dwarfs fingers go through his hair despite him trying to pull the larger beings hand away. Before Bilbo could connect his thoughts with his speech, his mouth opened and he rambled quickly "You are all like stumbling trolls, how am I to know what it is you are doing when you just shoot your hand in my direction as freely as you would smack each other out of affection!?"
Thorin thinned his lips, and then with years of working as a black smith among men, grabbed one of Bilbo's wrists with his free hand in a crushing grip. He looked at the struggling hobbit and muttered "Do you have a problem with authority little one?" He looked up then as he noticed movement. His nephews, Fili and Kili, accompanied by Bifur and Ori were running down stream towards the rest of the dwarfs. Bifur was wiggling his thick fingers towards the sky as he ran with his hands in the air and grunting like he was repeatedly punched in the stomach.
"Guh…" Bilbo involuntarily said then added defiantly "Authority based on size?" he tried to wriggle his hand away from Thorin but it was no use. His grip was like a shackle held tight against a wall. His arm could not be moved either.
"Master Baggins…" Thorin said, amused at the hobbits boldness.
"Otherwise no…" Bilbo said and thought for a moment of lifting his feet off the ground, trying to at least weigh the strong dwarfs arm down like a currency scale. But, just as shocking as it had been when the dwarf reached for him and actually grabbed him, Thorin shocked him again by running his balled hand, "Balled as if he is holding something…" Bilbo thought, down his flush cheek.
Thorin smiled, watching the fight leave the hobbit.
"N...No…but…you are…" Bilbo began and raised one brow crookedly as Thorin let him go and held the hand out that he stroked his face with as if to give him something. "Not my…" Bilbo held his hand up to take whatever it was "…king." He watched as Thorin's thick hand opened and dropped a struggling beetle, stuck on a strand of his hair, into the palm of his upturned hand. Bilbo looked up at him with large eyes.
"Stumbling trolls?" Thorin asked, repeating Bilbo's given moniker to him and his kind. He smiled though still and he could see it unnerved the hobbit even more. "I will remember that when your little life hangs on a thread like that insect Baggins." Of course he didn't mean it but the threat and show of dominance had to be made; the hobbits life would depend on it. He put his hands behind his back and his smile faded. As the official burglar of this expedition, he meant to pull him aside to ask briefly about Bofur and then the hobbits thoughts on crossing the river. But Bilbo spoke before he could.
"Thorin…" he whispered apologetically "If only you would have warned me, I would not have…"
The heated shiver that had went down Thorin's back at the tone of the hobbits voice was turned then to a cold shudder as Kili called out to him with urgency at the same time. Thorin spared the hobbit one last glance then jogged back to the waiting dwarfs.
Bilbo looked down to the struggling beetle and sighed while his shoulders slumped. That situation would have gone a lot better had the dwarf king merely warned him. Now he was sure that he would think of him as a jumpy fool amongst the other things he was sure Thorin thought of him. Bilbo raised a careful hand and grabbed his golden dropped curl and pulled it off the beetles flailing legs. He then helped the small creature by pushing his finger tip against it and turning it over onto its feet again. It bristled for a moment then raised its wings and flew off in a spiraling hurry.
Bilbo thought that tiny occurrence shared between him and the insect could be used as a life's lesson. "Untangle yourself then fly again." But sometimes you could not untangle yourself. You needed others to do it. He looked at the conversing dwarfs and noticed Bombur quickly shuffling up to him. He thought about Gandalf telling him the world was "…out there…" beyond his door and then a cold breeze, like someone opening a window on a blustery winters night hit him and made him duck his head further into his shoulders.
He looked still at the dwarfs from rapidly blinking eyes and they settled on Thorin. Perhaps they were the ones to untangle him from his miserable, lonely life. He thought once that it was happy and full but now, how could he have ever have thought that? His eyes turned to Bombur's red cheeks as he reached him. His beady eyes were wide and red brimmed with fright.
"Bilbo…we got to go…come!" he said, turning his large form around easily as if his size were no harder to heft then the clothes he wore.
Bilbo jogged with him, ignoring the squelching, cold dead grass under his feet as he went. He stopped between Dori and Nori while Bombur lumbered behind him. He could hear Fili and Kili's voice quickly talking and Bifur's grunted agreements. Ori spoke smartly with facts about a possible timeframe they may have. Bilbo's eyes looked to Thorin, as all other eyes appeared to when the quartet stopped talking at once.
Balin spoke calmly with years of experience as he pointed to their left "The water will most likely raise as it is now and spill out over that crest but if those clouds are as dark as they are saying, this basin will fill up quick…" He moved his ancient hand to their right, pointing at the waterfall. "That will start spilling triple the water so we can't get up that way and go around…we'll be sure to be washed down stream…if we stay here…"
"We'll be rats in a barrel…" Oin said.
Bilbo noticed that his hand shook as he held the trumpet up to his ear.
"That wall is too sheer to climb back up…" Dori said miserably, pointing to the cliff they came from.
Bilbo looked to Thorin as he said the obvious.
"We've got to get out of this place." Thorin looked at Bilbo and the others then at the churning river. "Any thoughts?" he said motioning to the water.
Bilbo could feel all eyes turn on him then and he was unaware that Bofur was now behind him. He felt a small tug on his back to a wreath of rope he was designated to carry. His mind suddenly clicked, remembering an adventurous story he had read, written by men about an incident like this. They all made it through in the story, no reason why it couldn't be attempted now, "A chain…" He said quietly.
"What? Speak up lad." Oin said, wishing his trumpet bowl was larger.
"A chain? What does he mean a chain?" Dori asked Nori and Gloin.
Bilbo felt a squeeze of acknowledgement on his shoulder and he turned his head to see Bofur emerge from behind him and walk off to stand behind Dwalin, who was furthest from Thorin. He then spun his head around to look at Balin who addressed him.
"Bilbo…" his voice was fatherly. He spoke to him as if he thought the hobbit may have hit his head, "Unless you brought a huge chain with ye from home I don't think we can build up a winch in time…" Bilbo watched the older dwarf's hood come up from the wind and almost cover his snow white hair as if he put it up there with his hands. His eyes cut briefly to Thorin, who was looking at him as if knew what he meant and approved.
"No…" Bilbo said with a slight nervous chuckle. He stepped over to Fili, Bifur and Ori and gently grabbed their arms and spun them around. He paid no attention to Kili stepping in front of his brother to make the demonstration longer nor did he pay attention to Ori's "What are you doing?" question.
He held his hands up and addressed them all, "If we get into a chain, we may be able to cross the river easier than one going at a time. We grab whatever rope we got and tie it to our belts…"
"That water'll be over your head…" Gloin said solemnly, as if he thought the idea would not work.
"I'll carry him…" Dwalin said, stepping forward. "Attach him to my back." He said and spun around.
Bilbo shook his hands as the dwarfs quickly went to work around him, grabbing what rope they had to secure themselves to one another. "No, no…" Bilbo said but was hefted off his feet by Fili and lifted onto Dwalin's back.
"Don't fight now…" Kili said, joining his brother into fastening Bilbo to the bulky dwarfs back.
Dwalin looked around grumpily at the other dwarves tying themselves to one another.
"It was your idea…" Fili added, finishing the thought for his brother.
Bilbo looked around, gulping, forced to face in the direction that Dwalin turned. He saw Balin turning a wide eyed Bofur around to tie his rope to his belt.
"If you were in the chain together with us…" Kili was saying.
Bilbo felt himself jerked from either side as the brothers tightened the knots. He looked back and forth between them as he grabbed the fur which adorned the fabric around Dwalin's massive neck. Dwalin growled as if getting ready for battle.
"The water would be smacking your cheeks…" The brothers said together. Bilbo looked at them look at each other quizzically and would have found it funny had Dwalin not started to walk towards the river in giant hulking footsteps.
"Oh no!" Bilbo said more to himself. With fear driven reflexes, he wrapped his arms around Dwalin's neck.
"Don't choke me Halfling…" Dwalin warned and loosened his arms up around his neck as if he would a garment that was too tight.
He felt hands under his buttocks and tried hard to turn and look. Thorin was there, tying his portion of rope to Dwalin's belt. His cold eyes looked up at the hobbit briefly and his thin lips parted as if he was about to say something but changed his mind. His hair whipped around him like a den of angry snakes. Dwalin mercifully turned slightly to see behind him as Thorin finished securing his rope.
Bilbo saw the fright etched on all their faces but perhaps more on Bofur's because Balin was coercing him to get up behind Thorin. He watched Thorin turn his head slightly and he saw Bofur freeze.
"Come on now lad, don't drag your boots! We need to get going!" Balin instructed him. "Why on earth are you afraid? I know you swim like a fish…" Balin continued. Bilbo thought briefly as Thorin raised his eyes to him, looking within them before Dwalin turned back around and forcing the connection to be broken, that the others didn't notice the obvious tension between Bofur and their king.
It seemed like forever but it was only moments that it took the dwarfs to form a secure line. The water raced by quickly before them and the spatter hit Bilbo where it missed Dwalin. Bilbo looked up at the darkening sky. Thorin yelled from behind him. "Is everyone ready?"
Dwalin turned slightly, as much as the space between he and Thorin allowed and yelled "Aye!" which there was an almost unison voice going up the line of dwarfs. Bilbo watched them tugging on the ropes one last time. His eyes caught Bofur removing his hat and tucking it in his tunic. They made equally scared eye contact before Thorin spoke to Dwalin in a quiet, rough voice.
"Find a body of rocks and let us make our way across that. The water should be more shallow there…these…" he turned his face away from the blasting wind for a brief moment, as they all seemed to do down the line, Bilbo noticed, and then said "These rivers are full of them…we make it across together or perish together…" His eyes cut up to the hobbit that looked like fear itself then back to Dwalin, "…Go."
Bilbo's heart seemed to stop beating as Dwalin bellowed this sound that he assumed was a battle cry and again, it echoed down the line, sans a few terrified voices.
"Oh…" Bilbo said again and tried hard not to wrap his arms tight around Dwalin's neck once more. Instead he buried his face down as Dwalin veered to the left and set out to lead his company across the breadth of the wild river.
"There!" Dwalin shouted, getting the first drops of rain in his face to mix with the ashen flavored water of the river. He saw an outcropping of rocks that Thorin had talked about and plunged a foot inside the icy blackness.
Bilbo watched with wide eyes as the water came up and consumed most of Dwalin's larger frame. His head and shoulders were only sticking out of the water. Bilbo felt his body consumed as if bitten by a maw made of ice. He took large gulping breaths as a shocked "Uh!" came from behind them. Thorin had entered the frigid water and put his hands up around Dwalin's shoulders. "Keep going!" he yelled.
Dwalin moved his legs and feet against the current, pushing his way through it. He found sure footing and pushed his great chest forward and began to pump his arms as if were swimming.
Bilbo struggled to breathe as the water smashed against his shoulders and hit his face still. He was grateful then that he was on one of the taller dwarf's backs. Surely he would have been carried away and up and over the small rocky wall in the distance to fall down the horrifying depths that awaited there had he not been. He knew the land was not alive in that respect but the thought of the water wanting to drag him in as if the wind were its massive tongue terrified him beyond any waking nightmare. "Mother…" he thought.
One by one each dwarf plunged into the depth. Some struggled but were helped along by the stronger bodies behind or ahead of them. All was going well till a horrified yell filled the air over the din of the wind and was cut short by a strangled gag.
Dwalin turned instinctively, lowering his hands under the water to reach for his sidearm. His eyes opened wide; as did Bilbo's and, Bilbo was sure, all eyes down the makeshift chain till the problem at hand.
Kili and Fili held the hands of arguably the smallest dwarf as his body was lifted by the current. Ori's boots kicked at the water while his head was just under the surface. His red hair lifted and danced like seaweed along the shoreline. He was pushed further and further down till his boots were nearly where his head should have been and Kili and Fili were disappearing under the water, trying desperately to hold onto him.
"Fili!" Thorin yelled, breaking the sound of the wind like a thunder strike. As if the sky answered him, it rumbled with its own clap.
Fili took a deep breath and disappeared under the water, using Ori's arm to pull himself down. Each of the dwarfs behind him planted their feet, pulling against the current to help him as he found Ori's shoulders and pushed him back to the surface.
"Kili!" Thorin yelled further and struggled to get to them, having forgotten he was still tied to Dwalin. His hands disappeared below the water to untie his knot.
Bofur reached his hand down through the water and placed it on top of Thorin's. "No…" he whispered.
Thorin looked at him then back to his two nephews. Kili was hit by a burst of water, sending his shorter hair up as if was falling but he reached down and with a giant pull, which strained his young features, Ori and Fili were back above the water, right side up. Ori struggled for a moment but the back of the line clumped together and helped push him up onto Fili's back. It seemed that Fili grabbed onto to Gloin's belt while Kili grabbed onto Fili's. No doubt their ropes lifted in the current, broken, much like Ori's body was just doing. Kili held up his hand, red and tender looking to signal it was under control.
"Ha…" Thorin said, his shoulders rolling forward in relief.
To Bofur's surprise, his cold wet hand came up to his cheek and patted him. He looked at Thorin, trying to keep the warm love for him out of his eyes but that look sharply turned to gut wrenching fear as Thorin was pulled back abruptly. Bofur reached for him, his eyes speaking of the scream he could not make and grabbed only air.
Thorin made no noise but his mouth opened in a silent grunt while he struggled to turn as he went mostly under the water along with Dwalin.
Dwalin's arms pin wheeled and as he was struck by the end of something moving fast under the water. It went between him and Thorin like and arrow and hit the hobbit, he knew, because the smaller being cried out in pain in fear.
Bilbo felt himself torn loose from the shredded ropes. "What hit me?" was all he could think as he tumbled through the water, feet over head. No other thought entered his mind. The crushing, cold oblivion around him was already what he thought death might feel like and he sensed he had no choice but to embrace it with open arms. His hands stuck sharp rocks under the water as he continued to turn.
His shoulder struck the end of whatever it was that hit him and he spun back up. His mouth and eyes opened under the water and there he saw him, reaching his arms down with an expression on his face like saving hobbits was a normal occurrence for him. Beside him, Bofur finally held Thorin upright. He could hear the screams of the dwarfs saying his name from above the surface as he reached down and grabbed him, closing his hands around his ankles just in time before his body was pulled away.
Thorin felt as if his heart would hammer out of his chest like the way the dragon smashed into the gates of Erebor. Surely the fear he felt now was the same as it was then. He pulled the hobbit up along his knees and then grabbed his belt. Dwalin reached as well when he resurfaced and he was aware that Bofur did too. Their combined strength won over the current and Bilbo's head came out of the water.
Bilbo gasped for breath, ignoring his hair plastered over his eyes and cheeks. He reached up, struggling. Fear driving him to cling to his savior in a crazed fashion. He wrapped his arms around Thorin's neck as he yelled for Dwalin to move. Bilbo felt himself moving through the water as Thorin's body took the blunt of the punishment. He wrapped his legs around his waist and clung to the fur along the thick cloak he wore.
Bofur looked on as the hobbit buried his face into Thorin's long soaked locks and could not help the jealousy that hit him. His fists balled under the water and he felt his eyes growing strained with anger but then realized that it was not the Halflings fault. He hung his head in shame and followed Thorin. The sadness inside was not overpowered by the elements around him. He was not aware of Balin clinging to his belt behind him or his strained whisper asking him how he was managing to walk through the current as if he was just walking over steady ground.
Thorin raised his hands and tucked one arm around the hobbits waist and the other high upon his shoulders. He almost lost his footing and a shaky "Oh!" filled his ear. He pushed on, partly dragged by Dwalin's renewed vigor, probably fueled by fear of losing his kin. He turned his head in time to see the body of a branchless birch tree upend itself and go over the lip before the waterfall. Thorin held the hobbit tighter, a fire that he didn't want to admit was there, grew a little stronger.
Dwalin reached the shore of the river but the rocks did not lead them back up. There was a small edge in which he clamped his massive hands on and pulled himself up. He kicked his leg up with a lot of trouble and finally rolled onto the soggy ground. The water hit the brink of the shore and pushed up over it already. Soon this basin would be filled with water. "We need to hurry!" he yelled, prying the terrified Bilbo off of Thorin's body and throwing him onto the mud filled bank before helping the rest of his people.
Bilbo finally opened his eyes and only managed to roll onto his stomach before vomiting, hardly aware of the dwarfs now all standing on the shore, shaken but unharmed. Someone was knelt beside him, holding a hand to his shoulder and there was a pair of boots near his head. He could hear them talking but they made no sense.
Thorin gathered his sopping hair and flung it back behind his shoulders and looked up at the not quite sheer wall they needed to climb. He frowned and looked at the hobbit that was on his knees with Dori beside him and Nori in front of him. He looked to Balin who was beside him once more and managed a smile at the older dwarf.
Balin looked up into his king's face and whispered, while his bushy white brow came together, "I don't know how we managed that but we got more problems to go yet before we can rest…" He put a hand on Thorin's gauntlet and squeezed, despite knowing the dwarfish steel would not give way under his hand. "We need to get them moving."
Thorin nodded and whispered "You are ever the fire that keeps me going my old friend." He put a heavy hand on Balin's shoulder and turned to address the group. The hobbit was being helped finally to his feet. "The climb will be difficult but we must move now. Look at your boots!"
The dwarfs did, the water was already covering their toes and the shoreline had all but disappeared.
"Move! Now!" he yelled, gesturing to the rock face. The rest of the dwarfs moved in unison with the hobbit being pushed along in front of them.
Balin looked at Thorin proudly as he stayed behind with him, encouraging the dwarfs and, even without mention of his name, the hobbit to start the climb.
"There will be some shelter up there in the trees…" He yelled over the noise as he put his hands on the rock himself to begin climbing.
Fili and Kili looked at each other, worried.
Balin noticed this and then turned his attention to Bifur who tried desperately to get the attention of Thorin by waving his hands at him then wiggling his fingers straight out to his sides in an arch.
Balin quickly caught up with the two younger dwarfs and put his hand on Fili's shoulder, "What has happened lads?"
Bifur slid down slightly to join the small group and once again grumbled and wiggled his fingers out in front of him and then to his sides.
Kili looked up at Ori, who let Thorin pass him with a terrified look on his face.
Fili then looked to Balin and said, "There was a fire…We tried to tell him…" he shook his head and licked his lips, "The forest is gone…"
Balin looked up at Thorin who was quickly reaching the top and frowned.
Thorin reached the crest of the ridge and hauled himself up over and quickly scrambled to his feet beside Dwalin and Bofur, who he didn't notice hastily, gave him room. His eyes looked out over the barren land that had once been filled with thick and lush forest and they grew sad. His heart sank, as did his mood and willingness to keep going. As far as he could see, the ground was as grey as the darkening sky and dead tree stumps jutted out at odd angles. The air up here rank of burnt death. He hung his head and put his hands on his hips.
One by one the dwarfs and the hobbit stood along the crest and looked out at the same spectacle in which Thorin was. Bifur put his hand up in the air then brought it down fast into his fist then wiggled his fingers out and to his sides again.
Balin nodded and said "Aye…you are right I am sure, probably lighting."
The wind blew up around them, reminding them all that there were not out of danger yet. The ash from the burned down forest stuck to their boots as they began moving forward, careful that they didn't trip over the remains of gnarled roots from the ancient trees that once covered this area for at least a few miles. It was all gone; every last tree.
Bofur hung behind, pacing the hobbit that was a few arm lengths away from him. He wanted to light his pipe and try to warm his soaked body but it would do no good. He then looked over to the west and saw it. His large eyes grew larger as he shook his head in disbelief, his dark hair clinging limply to his face. He jogged forward, moving to grab Bilbo's hand and chased down Balin.
Bilbo felt the thick cold fingers wrap around his and allowed himself to be dragged. He was unsure of what Bofur was up to. His head still spun from being underwater but then he snapped out of that stupor with rapid crystal clarity as he saw what Bofur was running from. "Oh no…" he thought, regretting for a moment ever leaving the steps of the Shire.
The rest of the troop was quickly approaching a large rock formation. It seemed to be the only thing left for a few miles beside the stumps and roots of dead trees. Bofur bent and picked the hobbit up, running faster to catch them.
Bilbo was not used to being hauled like this and was quite unaware that dwarfs were that strong as to be able to rip him from the ground without much effort. He clung to Bofur regardless, grateful that at least he was putting more distance between them and the growing menace behind them than he would have been able to do himself.
Bofur held Bilbo fast, aware of his fast heartbeat against his chest as he ran up behind Balin. He whispered his name and Balin turned tiredly around "What lad?" but he spotted it too and his eyes opened wide. He reached a hand out to stop Thorin and spin him around. One by one the rest of the dwarfs saw it too.
Thorin shook his head and stared at the wall of water dropping from the sky moving toward them at an alarming rate, pushed forward by a wind so powerful that it was ripping up debris from the ground it passed over.
Ori whispered "Based on how fast it looks to be coming…it will reach us in moments…there is no outrunning it…we're doomed." He put his shaking hands over his mouth.
"Soaked and doomed…" Oin said, shaking out his ear trumpet.
Dori looked down at the ground and then looked up at Thorin, his hood slapped his cheeks but he paid it no mind. He grabbed Thorin's sleeve and shook it to get his attention.
Thorin looked down at him, completely lost and ashamed of being so. "What is it Dori?" he asked slowly.
"What about rock tents?
Thorin considered this and his wit came back to him abruptly. It was like his brain was pushed forward and his body moved with it lest he be thumped off his feet. He began to jog behind the rock formation, hoping it would give him and his men at least some reprieve from the oncoming wind and yelled as he went. "Rock tents…Move!"
Dori was patted on the back by Bombur and Nori as they followed Thorin behind the steep hedge of stone.
They all congregated there and began to remove their cloaks. Bilbo was put down gently and he stepped off to the side, unsure of what they meant by rock tents. He watched some of them sitting on the ground together, intertwining their legs or just sitting on each other. Oin and Gloin grabbed Kili and Bifur and began to cover up. Kili looked angry and tried to go for his brother maybe but Bofur pushed him down and began tucking the cloaks in making the dwarfs underneath seem nothing more than a multicolored boulder.
Bilbo rang his hands together nervously as he watched; slowly understanding what it was they were doing as Nori, Dori and Bombur were tucked in. He stepped forward and helped Thorin tuck Dwalin, Balin and Ori under another "rock". They made eye contact and Bilbo was reminded of the blue sky above the storm and stared, not wondering why Thorin wasn't looking away from him. There was some kind of steady peace there.
Fili and Bofur joined in, moving from tent to tent, making sure all corners were tucked in securely.
Thorin yelled over the wind, finally able to pull his eyes away from the hobbits enthralled gaze, "Hold tight!" He then got on the ground and looked at Bilbo once more.
Fili picked Bilbo up once again and carried him.
"No! I can walk, this really isn't necessary…" He exclaimed as he was carried closer to Thorin, who held out his arms to take him. His heart hammered into his chest as he looked down at the dwarf, soaking wet and somewhat pale.
"Get down here now or that wind will carry you away…" Thorin said with a bark.
"Don't worry Bilbo…He's cuddly when you get to know him…" Fili said jokingly, or from nerves, as he sat the hobbit down between Thorin's outstretched legs. He yelped as Thorin grabbed his hips and pulled him down onto the ground hard.
Thorin closed his hands tight around him as his rump hit the ground and he pulled him closer. He wished suddenly the hobbit had gone with someone else. Without thinking, as Fili got on the ground before him, he clamped his hands tight around the hobbits backside and brought him closer to his groin and chest.
Bilbo looked up at Bofur who was lingering near them, dumbfounded, while Thorin did this and Bofur looked away, holding his lips tight together. "I know I should be thinking of the death that might overcome me in moments but…" he began to think as he looked down Bofur's frame. As he did so, it seemed that ice began to cover the furry parts of his clothing. His own breath hung in the air in front of him like a veil of impending doom.
"Come on Bofur, tuck us in!" Fili was saying.
Bofur did as Fili pushed in and got close to Thorin by draping his legs over the king's thighs and keeping them alongside the hobbits.
Thorin looked up and reached for Bofur as the first licks of stronger wind wrapped around them. He grabbed Bofur's belt, feeling the freezing crust starting to cover it, and pulled him down. He ignored the hobbit, who wrapped his legs instinctively around his waist as the dwarfs pulled the clocks tighter down above their heads and tucked in the corners.
Bofur fought with Fili and Thorin to get his legs between them and around the hobbit. Thorin helped him adjust one leg between himself and the hobbit so that his limb draped over the hobbits thighs and over Fili's thighs, behind the hobbits back.
Bilbo swallowed hard as harsh breathing, looking like puffs from chimneys from three of four possible angles filled his senses but then Fili started to whisper in his ear. "Someone smart came up with this idea while groups traveled across open plains…" He pulled himself closer, paying no attention that he was squishing Bofur's leg and the gasps that was coming from him.
"…Storms would hit and groups would get in these positions…" Fili rested his face against the back of Bilbo's neck, as much to feel that little bit of heat as to breathe down the hobbits back to keep him warm. "…if the piles were too big, the chances of corners coming lose and bodies flying away increased ten-fold…smaller piles yet still heavy enough has helped save many-ah-folk from reaching their life's end too quick…" He bit his lip, trying to stifle the noise he was making. To his young mind, it sounded exotically wrong, especially when Bofur whimpered and his precious uncle groaned.
Bilbo heard it though too and try as he might not to; he paid more attention to that and the feel of Thorin before him. It didn't make him bothered yet but it sounded of long sticky nights beneath bridges or behind Bag End when it was his mother's. He turned his head and mistakenly, his mouth brushed against Thorin's cheek. "Oh I am sorry…" he whispered but Thorin didn't answer him he merely told Fili to pipe down with his story telling.
Bilbo closed his eyes as one of Fili's hands moved around his waist, joining Bofur's already shaking grasp. He noticed that one of Thorin's now rested above Fili's. He shuddered more than what was caused by the intense cold that hit them. He could hear other moans and whimpers from outside their group. No doubt the intense drop in the temperature was affecting the others.
Thorin closed his eyes as Bilbo's arms came up around his neck and under his wet hair. The Halflings mouth, meaning to or not was against the side of his head. He thought for a moment about the lightly dressed hobbit in his arms and anger flushed his face as well. "Keep him warm…" he muttered. He grunted as he felt Fili move closer and tightening his long legs around them both.
Bofur lowered his forehead and raised his left hand to his mouth. He breathed on it several times and then dug it under Bilbo's jacket and shirt, tracing his warm fingertips up his bare cool skin.
Fili opened his eyes as he rested his face against the back of Bilbo's left shoulder and let his breath wash over him still. He has done this before and was not ashamed of what needed to be done. He felt his uncle run his hands down the hobbits exposed shins and he inwardly shuddered. To him secretly, his uncle Thorin was the most desirable person in his small universe. As wrong as it was, he didn't care. It was the very reason he looked the way he did. He wanted to mimic him without looking so much like him that it was obvious. He put his hand on the quivering hobbits stomach and ran his hand down to his belt then further, doing as his uncle demanded.
"No…" Bilbo said raising his body to Fili's groping touch and Bofur's soft one trailing up his back under his jacket. His eyes could not seem to adjust to the dark. He knew who's hand were who's though and now Bofur's whining mouth was on his shoulder. "I don't really think you need to be doing that…honestly…" He turned his head towards Bofur and was shocked when his mouth covered his in the softest of kisses.
Bofur closed his eyes, doing his best to pretend that the hobbits mouth was Thorin's. He dug his fingertips into his shoulder blade then moved his hand down around his ribs and tried to pull his body to him.
"Little hobbit…you have never been out your door." Fili whispered, knowing this was something his uncle would say. "It's embarrassing yes…but it is practical…" He squeezed the hobbit harder, enjoying his sudden yelp into Bofur's mouth and then slid his hand down his inner thigh. "We do what we must…the cold would surely kill you…and us… should we not."
Thorin watched in hidden awe as Bilbo tipped his head back and accepted Bofur's kiss with only a quiet groan. He felt a hot dagger of pain stab into his gut. "How could I not bring myself to do that first?" he thought. He felt slightly awkward that his nephew dug at the Halflings groin and then anger that they were doing things to the hobbit that he secretly wanted to do himself.
Bilbo's lips parted as Bofur pulled slightly away and looked at him sadly. It was then that he turned his head toward Thorin, half expecting him to just stare and burn him to his core with those searching eyes but instead those eyes cut to Bofur and his hand came up and turned his face to him.
Bilbo heard Bofur's breath catch in his throat. Not only was Thorin looking at him but Fili's hand was now rubbing at his inner thigh. He could just see Bofur's eyes close as Thorin's thumb traced along his lips then entered his mouth. Bilbo's mouth opened and watched as he pushed his fleshy digit in and pulled it out slowly, repeating the gesture as those blue and penetrating eyes turned to him.
Thorin leaned forward and whispered against the hobbits cheek "Do not take this personally Baggins…if not for the wizards thirst for you, I would not do this…" The lie sounded horrible coming out of his mouth he knew but was spared any further words by putting his lips on him and quickly moved his mouth down to the pulsing nerve on Bilbo's neck.
Bilbo grunted and unintentionally grabbed at Thorin's hair. His warm tongue slipping over his skin like he was some icy treat was so unexpected, worse than Bofur's kiss, that he could not move. He closed his eyes and listened to the three dwarfs breathing heavy or moaning and felt an unbridled spark ignite within him.
Fili ran his hand repeatedly across Bofur's "…impressive…" groin which seemed to get more magnificent with each pressuring rub of his hand. He leaned forward, briefly kissing the other side of Bilbo's neck and kissed Bofur's cheek. In his mind, all he wanted was to taste his uncle as he tasted the hobbit. He did not care about the cold and wet around them. It was intense yes but it would pass and this would be over all too soon.
Bofur watched Thorin's other hand holding the hobbits and running his thumb over the dip between his thumb and index finger. It wasn't fair. What did the hobbit have that he didn't? He longed for Thorin's mouth on him and not just his thumb moving between his lips like a man entering a woman. Bofur did not expect Fili's kiss on his face as he rubbed him. It was making it very hard for him not to do something he would regret. His muffled moaning seemed to spur Fili to the point that his mouth was near his and he licked at his uncle's hand.
Thorin dragged his lips up the hobbits neck, engrossed in what he was doing to his skin and the slick feel of Bofur's tight mouth. He turned his head suddenly as he felt a tongue lap around his knuckles.
Bilbo was looking with wide eyes as both Fili and Bofur continued to make love to their king's hand. That little spark blew out of control then as Thorin whispered his nephew's name.
"Fili…" Thorin muttered, watching with amazement as his slick pink tongue danced around the sucking corner of Bofur's thick lips and then down the length of his thumb as it slipped out of his mouth.
"Oh…" Bilbo said and looked away and let go of Thorin's hand. He brought both of his to his groin and tried to hug his knees together to prevent others from touching him but Fili's other hand slid over his and forced him to squeeze himself.
Bofur moaned with each lick and kiss of Fili and with each thrust of Thorin's hand. He was well aware of Thorin staring at him with controlled, yet gasping breaths. The cloak above his head began to slip and he cried out, as did Fili, as Thorin's hand slipped away from them and grabbed the material and pulled it back down on them. Bofur felt Thorin struggle slightly and struggled himself as Fili's hand squeezed his throbbing groin tightly. It was more than he could take and he lowered his shaking hand down between Thorin's legs.
Fili moaned, squeezing the hobbit harder, causing him to yelp and lean back against him as he watched Thorin's hips rise up into Bofur's touch. He looked at the large amount of area that he was able to grab and he pulled on the hobbit's groin in utter pleasure. "Kiss him Thorin…" he pleaded quietly.
Bilbo turned his face to look at Fili in shock and was rewarded with him grabbing his cheek and biting it briefly before moving his hand and digging into his tied trousers.
Thorin grabbed Bofur's tunic as he twisted his torso around so he could face him better. He closed his eyes and his body jerked as Bofur's fingers squeezed and let him go repeatedly, he was getting very hard quickly. His mind raced to all of the sensations he felt there on the veranda at Rivendell when Bofur seduced him. "You little imp…" he muttered, much to the pleasure of Fili and Bofur alike "…Why do you suddenly live to torment me?"
Bofur moved some of his hair off his face then whispered as he reached that hand up to stroke Thorin's cheek adoringly, "I don't mean to torment you…I only want your touch…I…"
"…Yes…." Fili whispered, watching Bofur's hand move down his uncle's face slowly. He jerked on the hobbits surprisingly thick groin as hard and fast as he would his own, realizing he was probably hurting him but he didn't care. "You like this?" he whispered in the hobbits ear as he watched Thorin's hand come up and wrap around Bofur's neck, much to the apparent pleasure of the shuddering dwarf.
Bilbo's thighs shook and were strained. He could not answer Fili for he now wrapped his other hand around his mouth then moved it silkily down to his neck, like how Thorin held Bofur. He knew, albeit forced, that he would climax within moments. His breathing stuck in his throat and he tried to push his fingers into Fili's iron-like grasp on his groin but it was no use. The more Thorin and Bofur did to each other, the faster his hand moved and the tighter it got.
Bofur tried to lean forward and capture Thorin's mouth but when his hand wrapped around his neck tightly, but not so tight to hurt him or stop his breath, he lost whatever control he had and he moaned loudly. To this, Thorin moved his hand up to his mouth and cut off his cry forcibly.
Fili pulled Bilbo down into his hips, well aware of how hard he was and how he pressed against the quivering hobbits bottom like a searing spear. "Hurt him uncle…" he muttered through clenched teeth.
Thorin did not hear Fili apparently but Bilbo did. His mind spun out of control and he stared wide eyed at Thorin who pulled Bofur's upper body to him and dragged his hand down his face and back to his neck. He ran his nose down Bofur's and then bit at his sun-kissed cheek. Bilbo closed his eyes and felt the fire shot from him. He bawled into Fili's palm and opened his eyes back up slowly as the wave of lust rolled over him slowly like cooling molten lava. His body slowly arched and his hips jerked into Fili's now slick palm.
"…Mm…" Fili hummed, looking at the shocked look on his uncle's face as he continued to look at Bofur and no doubt the semen that slipped down the sweating dwarf's cheek and hair. He smiled, wondering if Thorin knew it was on his chest and face as well. He kissed Bilbo's temple then whispered "How do you hold so much?" He then let Bilbo go and instead messaged his testicles, letting his still hard appendage graze the back of his hand.
Thorin looked away from Bofur's anguished eyes to look at the shaking hobbit on his nephews lap.
"No…please…" Bofur begged; he only wanted to be the object of Thorin's affection. He dug his chest feebly as Thorin looked down at the hobbit's groin in his nephew's hand.
The desperation in Bofur's heavy accented voice hurt Bilbo. He knew the desire of wanting someone and not being able to have them. He didn't wish to hurt anyone but the hungry look on Thorin's strong face was too much for him to take. He hissed as he felt Fili's finger slide up the bottom of his shaft and then he was pushed forward, closer to the other two dwarfs as Fili sat up straigher and pushed his seed filled finger into Bofur's open mouth.
"Fili…" Thorin muttered, looking at his nephew as if he had never seen the likes of him before.
Bofur felt the tears stinging at the corners of his eyes and then they fell out as he sucked greedily at Fili's finger, again wishing the "…so good…" flavor was Thorin's.
Bilbo did not know what to do. He felt Thorin's eyes burning holes in him and in Fili. He did not seem to notice, or he didn't care that Bofur was crying. Bilbo reached up and lightly stroked Bofur's cheek, wiping away the tears.
"Oh…Bilbo…"Thorin whispered. The sight of him touching Bofur was too much. The both of them equally got under his skin and to see that interaction was immense pleasure for him. Only the moan from his nephew apparently over his words and the sob from Bofur at the same time were shoved quickly out of his mind as outside their "tent", a rough voice demanded "Are you alright in there?" A hand began to pull the cloaks off them.