Thank you everyone for your reviews and for reading – I'm glad people are enjoying it Special thanks to harrylee94 for all the encouragement
Just a note – this has spoilers for the end of the book, so I hope you've read it.
Also – I didn't write the Misty Mountains song; Tolkien did.
I hope you enjoy
...
Smaug was dead.
Dead.
The dragon that had lazily sat in Erebor for nearly 200 years (well before almost all of them were born) was gone.
The raven had brought the news, and before they all had time to think on it properly, they were rushing back to the mountain. Bofur could feel the goldlust in him; he could see the dragon-sickness in everyone, except for Bilbo, and he wondered whether his and his family's past poverty was what influenced such feelings in him now.
He stepped over to a nearby pile of gold, picking up a handful of coins and letting the riches run through the gaps between his fingers, as if it was liquid gold he was holding. Then he picked up a small carved emerald, contentedly examining it before dropping it and wandering back to the group.
He passed Bifur who, previously unconcerned about anything that didn't come from nature, was gazing in awe at a silver circlet he reverently held in his hands. Bombur was a little way away, with Gloin, both sorting through a pile of gems for one that was 'just right' for their lasses (Gloin's wife and Bombur's intended). Thorin, along with the ever-loyal Dwalin and his brother Balin, were silently searching for the arkenstone. Nori was seated by himself in a corner, clearly inspecting and placing a value on the golden statue on his lap. Dori and Oin appeared to be good-naturedly debating the merits of different metals, and Fili, Kili and Ori were playing among the piles of treasure.
Bofur smiled at the scene in front of him and went to sit beside Bifur, not noticing how unhappy poor Bilbo seemed.
They were only dwarves after all; love of gold was as much a part of them as the love of nature was part of a hobbit.
...
That night they sat around the campfire, each quietly contented with his own thoughts, some of them fondling a favourite gem or artefact.
A crackling of the fire snapped Bofur out of his thoughts (thoughts that were, unfortunately, but perhaps understandably, rather too focused on gold) and he glanced round at the Company.
After a moment, he took a breath and began to sing;
The time passes over
More cheerful and gay
Thorin, Balin, Bifur, Nori and Dori sharply looked up at him.
Since we learned a new act
To drive sorrows away
Bofur picked up his whistle and picked up the tune, and when he began to sing again, some of the Company joined in.
Bright Phoebe awakes
So high up in the sky
With her red rosy cheeks
And her sparkling eye
Sparkling eye
Sparkling eye
With her red rosy cheeks
And her sparkling eye
If you ask for my credit
You'll find I have none
With my bottle and friend
You will find me at home
Find me at home
Find me at home
With my bottle and friend
You will find me at home
Although I'm not rich
And although I'm not poor
I'm as happy as those
That's got thousands or more
Thousands or more
Thousands or more
Thousands or more
Thousands or more
Thousands or more
I'm as happy as those
That's got thousands or more
Although the song was a cheerful one, it drew all the dwarves into a deep contemplation. It was Thorin who broke the silence that followed.
"A song of exile..."
Balin smiled and reached over to rest his hand on Thorin's arm.
"It's been sung for the last time, laddie. We're in exile no longer."
And, at that, the Company scrambled for their instruments to celebrate with lively music, and the strong wine that had been discovered in one of the deeper wine cellars. Bilbo sidled over to sit between Ori and Bofur while everyone did so.
"A song of exile? But it sounded so happy..."
"Aye lad," Bofur smiled, and briefly blew a note on his whistle before continuing, "it was to lift our spirits while in exile – trying to be cheerful about things that should've made us all weep."
Just then, Fili struck up a dancing reel on his fiddle, and Bofur quickly joined in with his whistle. Kili managed to convince a few of the Company to get up and dance, and dance they did; for hours the songs flowed from one to another, just as freely as the wine flowed.
Bofur didn't know who began first playing that particular melody, but he knew that it was Fili who started the words; new words, full of hope and expectation.
Under the Mountain dark and tall,
The King has come unto his hall!
His foe is dead, the Worm of Dread,
And ever so his foes shall fall!
The sword is sharp, the spear is long,
The arrow swift, the Gate is strong.
The heart is bold that looks on gold;
The dwarves no more shall suffer wrong.
The dwarves of yore made mighty spells,
While hammers fell like ringing bells
In places deep, where dark things sleep,
In hollow halls beneath the fells.
On silver necklaces they strung
The light of stars, on crowns they hung
The dragon-fire, from twisted wire
The melody of harps they wrung.
The mountain throne once more is freed!
O! Wandering folk, the summons heed!
Come haste! Come haste! Across the waste!
The king of friend and kin has need.
Now call we over the mountains cold,
"Come back unto the caverns old!"
Here at the gates the king awaits,
His hands are rich with gems and gold.
The king has come unto his hall
Under the Mountain dark and tall.
The Worm of Dread is slain and dead,
And ever so our foes shall fall!
Thorin sat there, looking entirely too flattered by the song, and almost as if he had slain the great dragon himself. And yet everyone carried on, feeling as if they also had fought against the dragon, when the only one among them who'd been brave enough to face Smaug was Bilbo, who was sitting in between Ori and Bofur, looking half anguished, and half relieved.
From there, the night descended into drunkenness and revelry of the best kind; that of comradeship, victory, and relief. Everyone got at least a little bit drunk, Bilbo included (Fili and Kili somehow convinced him to have a bit too much wine), and they were soon rambling on about inconsequential nonsense.
Gloin and Bombur began arguing about who had the handsomer woman (personally, Bofur thought they were about level, but he didn't want to get involved), and Bilbo and Ori appeared to be getting rather verbally affectionate with everyone, telling them how much they admired them, or in Thorin's case, liked his fur coat. Nori appeared to end an argument with Dwalin by running off down a corridor that had been explored earlier, Dwalin taking off in pursuit, and those watching (Bofur, Kili, Fili and Oin) placing bets on something they wouldn't actually voice, for fear Dori would hear. Thorin sat with Fili, Balin and Dori, all happily planning how Erebor would look once it had been cleared and repaired.
None of the dwarves had ever heard the human phrase 'don't count your chickens before they've hatched'.
...
The songs were Thousands or more by Bellowhead, and Under the Mountain (to the tune of Over the Misty Mountains) by Tolkien (sorry the formatting for that one is a bit weird - I can't fix it).
I was going to make this longer with another song, but I think I'll leave it here, because this works well without me ruining it by trying to fit in another song.
I wanted to explore the dwarves' love of gold – from Bilbo and Tolkien's (and our) point of view, it's a bad, greedy attitude to have, but I suppose I wanted to remind you all that love of gold and metals is what comes naturally to dwarves, and it does make some degree of sense that they all reacted the way they did. I also didn't want Bofur to be different (ie, able to see what might happen, or to be any less bothered about the gold) just because he's my focus of this story. I was going to have a vague sense of foreboding, but it never seemed to happen, and I'm happy with this chapter the way it is.
The way Bilbo behaves when drunk is a reference to the story 'Keep the Hobbit away from Dwarven Beer', which is well worth a read if you want a laugh.
Thanks for reading – reviews always appreciated :)
Edit: I just noticed the mistake about Bombur's wife, so have fixed it (in the first chapter, Gloin comments that no-one else is married, but in this chapter, I said that Bombur was).
