Chapter 11: He Fell

Dori-

Across the clearing, Bilbo was grinning smugly. Dori snuggled against Thorin and couldn't find it in himself to begrudge Bilbo that proud, little smile. If Bilbo was happy to think he'd solved the row between Dori and Thorin, then good for him. The little dear was so rarely happy that he deserved all he could get, especially for a good deed.

Gloin was preparing a bland dinner of that strange elf bread that could fill a person's belly with only one bite. The taste was like trying to eat tree bark, as far as Dori was concerned. Still, it was filling and that was what they needed. Fili and Kili were arguing about how to best start the camp fire while Bifur looked as if he were restraining himself from simply doing it himself. Nori kept looking over at Dori and Thorin as if he were trying to decide how long to let them be before he interrupted in the name of decency. Really, one would think Nori was the elder brother for all that he tried to keep Dori proper!

Fortunately, Nori seemed happy enough to stay at Bilbo's side and just send Dori disapproving looks for the time being. After a time, Bilbo got to his feet and slowly made his way over to where Bofur lay with his head resting on his bag.

"Well," Bofur smiled up at Bilbo in his usual genial way. "What can I do for you? If you need a place to rest yourself, take a lay down. The ground here is as soft as it's going to get."

"No. It's not that, but I do thank you. I was thinking about your offer." Bilbo scratched the back of his head with one hand and his voice grew a little softer as he spoke. "Do you still want to? About the carving, I mean."

Bofur's face lit up like a bonfire and he sat up so quickly that his hat nearly fell off. "And here I thought… never mind that! You just sit yourself down right here and we'll get started." He patted the patch of moss next to him. He sent a look at Balin after Bilbo sat and said to him, "Nothing formal, of course. No contracts and nothing binding, just me showing my little friend my trade."

Bilbo scowled. "I am NOT little. I happen to be a perfectly decent height for a hobbit! You dwarves are oversized."

But Balin nodded his understanding at Bofur. Once they reached somewhere civilized, a proper apprentice contract would be drawn up and witnessed, if Bilbo was willing. Balin, who knew the laws and customs like the back of his hand, was the natural choice for the duty of writing the contract. Every apprentice had a contract. Nori and Ori had contracts with Dori when he'd started their training as well as with their other masters. In bygone times, the contracts were meant to protect the apprentice from being taken advantage of, but there was no danger of that in Bilbo's case – Bofur would sooner lose a limb than do anything to hurt Bilbo.

"What do you mean about a contract?" Bilbo asked. "It's only carving. We don't need a contract for that, do we?"

"Well, lad, we dwarves do so love our contracts," Bofur said as he dug through his bag and pulled out two small knives that clearly were not meant as weapons. He glanced around and, in arm's reach, he found a stick which he broke in half and handed half to Bilbo. "Nothing to worry about for now. Here, this is how to you hold the knife."

Bilbo sent a cautious, questioning look over to Dori and Thorin. Whatever he saw in their expressions eased whatever worry he had, because he turned back to Bofur and listened with rapt attention to his first carving lesson.

Thorin leaned his head closer to Dori and whispered, "He isn't allowed to work."

"Hobbits aren't dwarves. Different people, different customs." Dori reasoned, though he didn't agree with keeping a person from learning a trade if they wanted to learn it anymore than Thorin did.

"I have been thinking." Thorin lowered his voice to a whisper. "Bilbo will need a place to live once we reach Erebor. The royal apartments will be big enough for all of us and one small hobbit."

"You've given this some thought."

"I have."

They watched Bilbo laugh at something Bofur said.

"Everyone would still be family to him, as we'd decided before, but he should have a stable home." Thorin watched Dori out of the corner of his eye. "After this quest is over, after we have our home, we will need to write up a fostering contract for him."

"You want to make it all legal, then."

"I don't want anyone to ever turn up out of the blue and claim that something wasn't done properly. Balin can write it up so that it lists all of the company as his guardians."

Dori narrowed his eyes a bit. "Not Nori. He can't be listed as Bilbo's guardian."

"Why not?"

"Nori is all but tripping over himself trying to impress Bilbo; he wouldn't be able to be an authority figure."

With the exception of Nori, the idea of having the whole company share parenting duties was an interesting idea. Why not, though? After all, all the adults in their family group had helped raise the few children they had amongst them after they'd fled the dragon. "There will be details to work out," Dori warned. "For example: will he have a single room in one person's apartments or will he travel from family to family as he pleases to have equal time with them?"

Thorin shrugged. "We have time to figure that out. What do you say?" Thorin asked. The slight crinkle at the corner of his eyes told Dori that he was nervous about what reaction his suggestion would bring. "If you… if anyone… don't want to sign such a contract, they don't have to. If no one else wants to, I will do it alone. I know it isn't easy to take on a half-grown child, but…"

"Now, don't get ahead of yourself. You know full well I wouldn't turn away from him." Dori looked back at Bilbo where he so adorably frowned in concentration as he tried to mimic Bofur's nimble movements with the little knife as he peeled away tiny splinters of wood from the stick Bofur had given him. "If Bilbo wants to stay, I would be honored to have him as my foster. However, if he doesn't want to stay – if he wants to go back to Hobbiton – what will you do?"

Thorin grumbled. "I hadn't thought that far ahead."

"No matter. We have time to think about it.

It would be nice to have Bilbo around, Dori thought. When the quest was done and they were once again in Erebor, Dori would get Bilbo sturdy clothes and work with Balin to plan out lessons. Bilbo was a bright little thing and it would be a shame to skimp on his education. Dori briefly indulged in a fantasy of setting up a room for Bilbo, feeling almost as giddy as an expectant mother arranging a nursery.

A sudden gasp brought Dori out of his daydream.

Bilbo had dropped Bofur's little knife and clutched at his hand.

"Oin," Bofur gently took hold of Bilbo's hand and pulled it away from where he had it cradled against his chest. "Lad's gone and got a little nick." Bofur didn't stop smiling as he examined the wound. "Just a little slice." He relinquished the hand as soon as Oin knelt down next to Bilbo, but gave Bilbo a pat on the back. "Nothing to worry about; everyone gets a little cut or two when they're learning. I've still got a few scars. See – here and here." He held out his hand in front of Bilbo to show off his learning scars, effectively distracting Bilbo while Oin examined the wound.

A little salve and a wrapping and Oin declared Bilbo fit, again.

With the carving lesson over, Bilbo tried to give Bofur back the little knife, but Bofur insisted Bilbo keep it. He would need it to practice, after all. He wouldn't be refused and pressed Bilbo to keep the knife and, in the end, Bilbo accepted, looking thoroughly pleased with the gift.

Bilbo went to sit next to Dori and, from his bag of supplies pulled out the most curious collection of fabric. Dori recognized bits and pieces of clothing from their company. Bilbo sorted through the fabric for a few minutes before he picked two pieces and began sewing them together with a needle and thread he'd had tucked at the bottom of his bag.

"What are you doing?" Thorin asked in that adorably gruff manner he had.

Bilbo started, shot a glance at Thorin, then looked back at his lap where his sewing lay. "Quilting. I'm making a quilt."

Thorin scowled. "You wore quilted clothing at your home." He obviously remembered the multicolored robe Bilbo had been wearing that first night when they'd met him. Thorin had confessed to Dori that it looked like the poor thing was wearing barely held-together rags and Dori had agreed but it looked as if they were both wrong. Quilts were a hobbit thing.

"Yes. I made that dressing gown, too." Bilbo beamed. "I was always proud of that. I thought I'd make a quilt to remind me of all of you when this is all over. I might not be much good at most things, but I'm darned fine at sewing and cooking. Someday, when this is all over, I'll make you a…" his voice faded away. "Oh. When this is over, I suppose you'll get your kingdom set to rights and you'll want dwarf food. I don't know how to make any of that."

"I think we could share some recipes with you," Dori offered, good-naturedly. "And I, for one, quite enjoyed hobbit cooking when we were at your home. Ererbor will be set to rights soon enough. Our own Bombur will be foreman in change of the rebuilding. He is quite a brilliant architect."

"Bombur?" Bilbo looked over to where Bombur sat with Bifur, both talking quietly while examining several small rocks Bifur had found on the ground.

Dori couldn't help but grin when he saw Bilbo turn red. Dori lowered his voice so no one else would hear them. "Are you blushing?"

"No! Of course not!" Bilbo determinedly looked back down at his lap and started working on his quilting. "Of all the things to think! It's just been a very busy day and the sun was hot. Really, the things you dwarves dream up. Blushing indeed!" He, too, had lowered his voice to keep the others from hearing.

"Bombur is a fine example of a dwarf; he's sturdy and hard-working. There's no shame in having a little crush. Why, I think if he knew he'd be flattered."

Bilbo turned panicked eyes on Dori and quietly hissed, "Don't tell!"

With a gentle yank, Dori pulled Bilbo right up beside him and put an arm over his shoulders. He hadn't had a little one to cuddle for a long while. "I won't, but it's perfectly natural."

"But he's married!" Bilbo hissed. "And I don't have a crush!" He squirmed under Dori's arm, but made no effort to actually move away. After a moment, he stuffed his sewing back into his bag and huffed at Dori. "I don't want to sew, anymore. You've put me off." He was still red and twitchy when he pulled his pipe out from his bag and his mood wasn't helped any when Thorin reached across Dori and snatched the pipe out of Bilbo's hands. "Hey!" Bilbo objected.

Thorin said nothing, but tucked the pipe away in his bag. Dori heartily approved. Children didn't need to smoke.

"But that's mine!" Bilbo whipped his head around to look at Nori. "Nori! Help!"

But Nori shook his head. "Nope. I will die to defend you against any murderous enemy, but I'm not fighting Thorin for your pipe. If I fight Thorin, I'll have to fight Dori and if I fight Dori, I'll lose. Anyway, smoking's not good for you." He said that last as he pulled out his own pipe and lit it.

Outraged, Bilbo turned back to Thorin and looked as if he were debating the merits of trying to fight for his pipe. In the end, wisdom won out and Bilbo simply crossed his arms over his chest and settled into a pout.

The conversation turned to other things. They spoke of family left behind, about swordsmanship lessons for Bilbo, which Bilbo was hesitant about, and old stories that everyone knew but took comfort in hearing, again. Oin told Dori that he would need more salve for pain and something to prevent infections as his supplies of medicines was running low. Dori agreed to see to it at first light. As his training had necessitated an in-depth education about poisons, he had learned enough of herbs and plants to be able to make the necessary medications for Oin. All-in-all, it was a comfortable, peaceful evening.

Of course they ran into rock giants two days later.

Onward and upward the journey had continued and, well-before they reached the summit of the mountain they were set upon by a storm so terrible that they had to nearly cling to the side of the mountain for fear of falling off the precarious trail. Dori, who stayed just behind Thorin, kept glancing over his shoulders to see that his brothers were faring well. He was pleased to note that each one kept firmly by the side of the person they were meant to be guarding – Ori was right at Kili's heels and Nori actually kept a hand on Bilbo's arm while they walked. It continued on that way for some time until the appearance of the stone giants.

Half their party nearly died.

It was the most horrifying thing Dori had ever lived through, to see Ori and Bilbo and Kili and all the others nearly crushed and being helpless to do anything. Even with his skills, he couldn't fly over the vast expanse and carry them to safety.

But they lived. By some miracle, no one died. The sight of Bilbo clinging like a little tree frog to the side of the mountain, barely hanging on and clearly so terrified that he couldn't even raise his voice to shout for help, nearly did Dori in. He could feel his heart stop for just a moment. Nori threw himself onto his stomach right at the edge of the precipice and reached down to grab Bilbo, but he was barely an inch from being able to grab Bilbo's hand. Dori saw Nori tense in preparation for going down to get Bilbo and Dori, himself, had taken two steps towards the cliff, but Thorin beat them both. Thorin nearly threw himself over the side of the cliff where he easily scrambled down to Bilbo and pushed him up enough so Nori and Bofur could grab him and pull him up to safety.

The company was overjoyed. There was much cheering and back-slaps as everyone celebrated making it out of that terrible rock battle alive. And then Thorin thundered that Bilbo never should have come with them.

The pain in Bilbo's expression almost broke Dori's heart. Oh, the look on his face was tragic.

They found a cave to shelter in and the moment everyone was safely out of the weather, Dori grabbed Thorin's arm and hauled him to the deepest reaches of the cave for an illusion of privacy. "What was that about?" Dori demanded in a harsh whisper. No matter how angry he was, he wouldn't want to embarrass Thorin in public. "Are you trying to break his heart? You said you wanted us to keep him. Did you change your mind already? If you're going to be like that with him, I won't let you sign any contract with him! There was no need to hurt him like that! He didn't do anything wrong! Any one of us might have fallen… eh? Thorin?"

In a most disturbing display, Thorin had started scraping his fingers against the wall of the cave, trying to hurt himself.

Dori grabbed Thorin's hand and held it still and safe.

Finally, Thorin looked Dori in the eye and he was frighteningly wide-eyed. "They almost died. Half our party almost died – again! Trolls and wargs and orcs and now rock giants? Bilbo almost fell to his death." Thorin moaned, miserably. "I should have left him in Hobbiton when I thought how child-like he is. I should have sent him back to Rivendell with one of the company when I learned his age. No, I let him follow. I let him tag along and he almost died today." Thorin raised his angry, self-loathing eyes to Dori. "I am a monster to have allowed this. If he dies because of me I will never forgive myself."

"We didn't know his age…"

"But we do now. I should have sent him back the moment he said it! But no, I selfishly kept him because I'd grown so fond of him that I couldn't bear to let him go."

"You said yourself that we'd taken children on dangerous journeys before."

"We had no choice! Now there was a choice. I should have left him with Dis. She adored him and I'm sure he would have easily grown fond of her in very little time. And Kili was nearly killed, too. Ori…" Thorin put his back against the wall and slid down to the floor of the cave. "I am mad for risking all we have."

It was well-known, not only to Dori, but to all of their company that Thorin suffered bouts of self-hatred. Dori firmly blamed Thorin's parents and grandfather, though he kept those thoughts to himself as Thorin loved and respected them all. Knowing all that, Dori looked over his shoulder and saw everyone watching with discreet, concerned little glances at them. They worried for their prince as deeply as he worried for them. The only exception, again, was Bilbo, who hovered near the mouth of the cavern looking small and upset and Dori had no doubt it was because of Thorin's loud, frightened words earlier.

Dori met Balin's eyes and gave a silent nod.

At once Balin got everyone busy with setting up their camp for the night; it was a good distraction to get Bilbo doing something rather than agonize over something Thorin really hadn't meant.

Dori crouched down in front of Thorin and lightly touched his cheek with just the tips of his fingers, enough to make Thorin look up. "No one is hurt and you protected Bilbo as well as anyone could hope to. I'm afraid Nori will be huffy with you, though. No doubt he was looking to be the one to rush to the rescue, but you acted so quickly, he didn't even have a chance."

With a slow nod, Thorin accepted Dori's words. But the damage was done. Dori looked back to see how Bilbo was doing and saw that even as he hurriedly went about helping to set up camp, he looked absolutely miserable and he was determinedly not looking at Thorin. Bilbo kept as close as he could to Bofur or Balin and when it came time to sleep, he picked a spot as far from Thorin as possible.

Dori would speak to Bilbo in the morning. Give the lad time to rest and calm down from his fright and then he'd get Thorin to apologize for shouting. In the morning he would help the two of them get it all cleared up.

That fine plan would have worked out well if it hadn't been for the goblins.

After tumbling into the goblin's underground city their group was swarmed by goblins. They tried to fight, but the sheer number of goblins had them completely overpowered.

And then Bilbo fell.

He toppled right off the side of the precipice they'd landed on as the goblins swarmed around them like ravenous animals. Bilbo was shoved. He was so small that the goblins didn't even seem to notice him among the dwarves and when the goblins made a grab for the dwarves Bilbo was shoved. Nori made a grab for Bilbo, but it was too late. Bilbo's eyes went very wide. His arms wind-milled at his side. And he fell. In a flash, he was gone and Dori was shoved along with the others, away from where Bilbo had been.

Nori was stricken. His face deathly pale and seemingly insensible to everything and everyone around him, Nori lurched for the edge of the cliff. The goblins wouldn't let him by and while he managed to kill three in his struggle to get to Bilbo, the sheer number of goblins had overwhelmed them.

They were forced to stand before the goblin king. Thorin shouted and Dori had to force himself to put his emotions aside while they were all in danger. It was a learned skill he had, which was fortunate. If he hadn't been able to do such a thing, then he would have surely been out of his mind with grief for Bilbo. He would deal with those emotions later, after they found safety.

"Kill."

The whispered word was so soft that Dori almost missed it. He looked over to Ori, who stood at his side, and wasn't really all that surprised to see his sweet little brother with murder in his eyes. Ori's eyes were half-lidded and his whole body tensed with waiting power.

"Kill," Ori repeated himself, saying it like a dark prayer. He slowly turned to look at Dori. "Let me kill him. Let me get closer. Please. Please."

Dori knew that gleam in Ori's eyes, the twitching of his fingers. Yes. Ori wanted to get within arm's reach of the goblin king because he wanted the chance to get his hands on the foul slug. He wanted to kill the goblin king, to rip him apart with his bare hands. It wouldn't be the first time he'd done such a thing. Ori had always suffered from bone-deep berserker impulse that pushed at him to kill. It was a fault and one that Dori worked hard to teach Ori to control. In order to serve his prince, Ori needed to be able to control himself, not let his rage control him, but Bilbo had been a friend and no threat to any living soul. If there had been only a few goblins, Dori would have happily let Ori do as he pleased, but there were thousands of them.

"No." Dori seized hold of Ori's arm and squeezed hard, almost hard enough to break the bone. "Too much risk. Guard your prince by staying alive!"

Ori clearly didn't like it. He wanted to fight, wanted to kill. But then he stole a quick look at Kili and backed down. He gave the smallest of nods, barely perceivable, to Dori. He wouldn't push their luck.

But Nori was nearly hyperventilating and shaking on Dori's other side and Dori had to keep a hold of his arm. He didn't dare let go. Nori would take the first chance he had to go after Bilbo, ignoring the goblins and the whole predicament. Dori could hardly blame him – he would have done the same thing if it had been Thorin who had been pushed over the precipice. The only difference was that Dori didn't have a big brother to hold him back.

And then Gandalf appeared and everyone was running and then suddenly they were free in the warm light of day. There was a long moment when no one did anything but breathe.

Ori began to pace the clearing they were in, muttering furiously to himself. He walked circles around Kili, swinging his arms and clenching his fists as he walked. Every few minutes he would pause his give Kili a hug or put a hand against his back or in his hair, and then he started his pacing, again. Working off the rage, Dori knew. He told Kili to sit still and let Ori calm himself. It was the only way. If anyone tried to interfere before Ori was ready, he would get set off, again, and that would be very bad.

Nori took off like a shot. He dashed away from the group and back into the tunnel they'd come from.

Dori cried out, "Nori!"

Without a word, Bofur chased after Nori. Then Dwalin, his face grimly set, started after Bofur. Dori warred with himself about whether to stay with Thorin or go after Nori himself. Not that he didn't trust Bofur and Dwalin, but Nori was his little brother. Ori was still fidgeting so badly and Dori needed to stay in case Ori couldn't calm himself and ended up needing help.

Almost immediately, Bofur and Dwalin dragged Nori out of the tunnel, struggling and fighting, though clearly trying not to hurt them. That was a good sign. If he had wanted to hurt them he wouldn't have failed and that he wasn't trying showed that he was at least aware enough to recognize his friends. Nori wildly kept screaming, "Let me go! Let me go!"

They hauled Nori straight to Dori and retreated as soon as Dori had his hands on Nori and pulled him in for a hug, though Bofur didn't retreat very far.

Nori struggled to get away from Dori. "He's down there! He's down there and he's alone and I ran! I ran from him! I have to get him!"

"No. No. You need to stay with me. Stay with me and think and be sensible. I know it's hard, but you can do this. One of us alone can do nothing against thousands of goblins." He patted Nori's face as he spoke, stroking his hands over Nori's hair as he would a cat. In few moments, Nori's struggles and yelling calmed and he allowed Dori to hold him. It was near impossible to stay composed for Nori's sake. Dori wanted to burst into tears for Bilbo. The chances of Bilbo having survived the fall… surviving the goblins… Dori's chest and throat tightened up. His hands were shaking. Dori wouldn't ask the others to risk their lives, but he was going after Bilbo. Even if he did nothing but bring back a broken little body, he could at least see that a decent funeral was held. He looked over Nori's shoulder at Thorin where he stood near the mouth of the tunnel. "Thorin…"

Thorin's hand clenched around the hilt of Orcrist. He stared into the darkness of the tunnel. Thorin's lips pressed together in a thin line as he thought, clearly having a hard time controlling his temper. Finally, he burst out, "Balin! I need a plan!"

But before Balin could say a single word, Bilbo was back with them. Just, there, as if he'd appeared out of nowhere. They stared at Bilbo, disheveled and sweaty and a bit shaky, but whole and mostly uninjured.

Nori fussed, as was to be expected. He looked Bilbo up and down and circled around him, looking for any threatening wounds. There were none. Bilbo tolerantly stood still while Nori satisfied himself and, when Nori was done, he wrapped Bilbo in his arms and held him tightly.

"Don't you ever do that to me, again! You promised you wouldn't disappear, again!" Nori took Bilbo by the shoulders and gave him a shake. "I thought you were dead. I thought I watched you die and there was nothing I could do to stop it. I can't do that, again. Just like Frerin…"

Then the orcs came.

To be continued…