Thorin led Bilbo out the door of his home and along the path, taking a circuitous route to the clearing where he had taken Bilbo the day that Bilbo and Dwalin had fought and where he had cried earlier. He and Gandalf had decided that it might be best to do this outside and away from any prying ears. He had halfway been worried that Bilbo would not come with him willingly and had been prepared to carry the hobbit from the house bodily if it proved necessary. Gandalf only said that Bilbo had to give up the Ring willingly, not that he had to come to the meeting in the same way.
It had proved unnecessary, but what had happened . . . it had broken Thorin's heart for Bilbo to say such things. Though he had never heard one before, Thorin recognized a break-up speech when he heard one. Bilbo was done with him. His hobbit no longer loved him. He had endured all of the pain, and anguish and gone through all the trouble of returning for nothing. Bilbo did not want him and he knew that Dís would want nothing to do with him. He could not return to Erebor for fear of upsetting Dáin's rule. He was alone in the world with nowhere to go.
Not for the first time in his life, Thorin cursed the Valar for what they were putting him through. He knew now for certain that they had only returned him to the world of the living to punish him. Gandalf had told him that the Ring was reacting to his presence and the threat he posed to its possession of Bilbo. If he had never returned, Bilbo might never have gone mad. If he had never returned Bilbo would have been fine.
Yes, the voice that almost sounded like Bilbo's from earlier chastised, and if you hadn't've, Gandalf might never have gotten around to taking the Ring from him at all and he might have become like that creature. Thorin sighed. The voice was right. Gandalf had been dreadfully negligent of Bilbo and might never have remembered to remove the Ring. His only hope was that it was not too late for Bilbo. Even if the hobbit never spoke to him again, he could not bear the thought of Bilbo suffering through madness for the rest of his life. He would almost rather take Bilbo's life himself rather than allow him to fade from himself. If they failed . . . he might do just that. Bilbo . . . the hobbit he knew would not want to live such a half-life and if they failed . . . that was all that he would have. It would be more merciful by far to put him out of his misery before he lost himself completely.
But the thought of taking Bilbo's life . . . Thorin knew that he could not do it, even as a mercy killing. He could not bear to be the one that shed Bilbo's blood. It was not as if he had a weapon with which to do it even if he could. He had no sword, no axe. Sting was not sufficient. The only way that he would kill his hobbit would be to painlessly behead him and Sting was not large enough to do the job. He could always borrow one of Dwalin's axes but . . . the thought of explaining to the warrior why he wanted it, of seeing the pain and understanding in Dwalin's eyes . . . no. He could not kill Bilbo, even for both of their goods.
He would not kill Bilbo and he would not allow him to live as he was. That only left him one option: the Ring had to go.
"Thorin," Bilbo said quietly from beside him, pulling him out of his dark thoughts. "Do we have a destination or are we merely wandering?"
"Does it matter?" Thorin replied with a weak attempt at a smile.
"No," Bilbo said, looking away from the pain in Thorin's eyes and smile. He couldn't stand that he had caused it. "It is only . . . this is embarrassing when you take into account that I once walked across nearly the entirety of Arda but . . . I am growing tired. We've been wandering for quite some time and I don't seem to have the energy I used to. Not today."
"We are almost to the destination I had planned, Bilbo," Thorin sighed. "It is not much further. If you would prefer, I can—"
"If it's not far I can walk," Bilbo cut in. "Provided there is a rest stop planned."
"We will spend a fair amount of time there," Thorin promised. Bilbo nodded and continued on at Thorin's side, plodding wearily along. If he recognized where they were headed he gave no sign of it. It was only when he caught sight of Gandalf that he sprang back to full life, his sharp eyes darting around warily as the madness began to stir.
"Gandalf," Bilbo said, the madness burning brightly in his eyes, "whatever are you doing here? You and Thorin." At the end the tone was hard and suspicious. Unlike Bilbo, the Ring was not confused in the least as to why the dwarf and the wizard had led the hobbit out into the woods alone. It just wanted one of them to say it so that Bilbo would hear and know. Due to this, the Ring only took partial control of the hobbit, wanting Bilbo to still be there to witness it all.
"I think you know why we are all here, Bilbo," Gandalf replied. He hated to address the Ring by the name of his dear friend but he could see no other option. He couldn't very well call Bilbo 'Ring.' The hobbit eyed him darkly for a moment before realizing that it had no way to intimidate the wizard and no ammunition with which to hurt him and turned instead to the dwarf, who had proved to be such an easy target. Thorin flinched as he met Bilbo's eyes and realized it was no longer Bilbo he was dealing with; the Ring was back.
"You," Ring-Bilbo snarled. "You brought me out here so that there would be no one to stop you from harming me for ending things between us. Do you intend to kill me as you did your nephews—though how you can do it and still plead innocence this time without the ability to provoke a war to do your dirty work, I do not know—or do you merely intend assault me once more. I am old and frail now. An assault like the one you carried out all those years ago might just kill me."
"I intend to do neither of those things to you, Bilbo," Thorin replied, not attempting to keep the pain the Ring's words caused him from his face. He remembered what Bilbo had said only moments before about the fact that he hid his emotions being a major barrier between them and had seen how well Bilbo had responded to seeing what he was feeling. He knew that he had to use every advantage he had if he was to accomplish this task and it made it easier to focus on the task at hand if he was not preoccupied with concealing what he felt.
"Then why did you lead me here?" Ring-Bilbo demanded. "Surely if all the two of you wanted to do was talk we could have done it at home where the others could see. Were you so ashamed of your plans that you hid them from your kin, Thorin? Just as you always hid things from me?"
"There is no shame to be had in what we intend to do," Thorin argued. "In fact, what we are doing is perhaps the most honorable thing I have ever done in my entire life. We know about the Ring, Bilbo."
"What of it, Thorin?" Bilbo asked, curiosity rather than madness in his hazel eyes as his lover brought up his magic Ring. Why had they brought him out here to talk about the Ring? What about it could make this the noblest thing that Thorin had ever done? Even more than settling his homeless people? And why did they have to be in the middle of the woods to do it? Bilbo would have spoken of the Ring in front of the others. They all knew of it anyway, even Frodo.
"We know that you still have it," Thorin said nonchalantly, trying to keep Bilbo with him rather than the Ring knowing that he could not reason with such an evil thing. But Bilbo . . . Bilbo he could reason with. Bilbo was logical to a fault, a trait that had infuriated Thorin more than once but one that he relied on now to see them through this.
"I-I do," Bilbo admitted confusion beginning to build within him. "But . . . but what does it have to do with anything, Thorin. It's only a trinket." He paused to give a small laugh before he continued, "A useful trinket to be sure and many aspects of our quest would have gone differently without it but it's a trinket all the same."
"A trinket that led you to lie to me, Bilbo?" Thorin asked simply, the pain of the deception burning in his eyes but no condemnation in his tone. He had lied to Bilbo after all, even if he hadn't meant to do so. He was in no position to judge Bilbo for lying to him sixty years ago. No matter how it hurt him that his hobbit had.
"What?" Bilbo breathed shocked both at the statement that he had lied and the pain that he saw in Thorin that the dwarf thought he had. "I never . . . I didn't lie to you, Thorin. I . . . I don't remember . . . "
"You didn't lie to me and tell me that the creature Gollum gave you the Ring as a reward for winning the riddle game instead of telling me the truth that you found it in the dark and kept it?" Thorin asked gently, tilting his head curiously as he watched the emotions that flitted across Bilbo's face. First confusion, then frustration, then finally anger as the madness took control once more.
"The wizard told you that, did he?" Ring-Bilbo demanded, taking control once more as doubt began to stir in Bilbo and turning to glare at Gandalf for giving the dwarf the information he needed to raise such doubts.
"What if I did, Bilbo?" Gandalf asked quietly. "Are you ashamed of the truth? Are you ashamed of the fact that you lied to your mate and robbed such a pitiful creature as Gollum of the one thing he valued in this world?"
"No," Ring-Bilbo spat. "I am not ashamed. He lost it and I found it. There is no wrong in that."
"Why, if there is no wrong in it, did you lie to Thorin, your mate, when you told him of the Ring?" Gandalf pressed, trying to tug on Bilbo's conscience and bring the hobbit back to them."You lied to him knowing full well how much it would hurt him when he learned that you had lied to him after he trusted you. When you knew just how difficult trust is for him to give out?"
Thorin shot a look of disdain at the wizard for Gandalf's less than flattering description of himself. He would love to see how the wizard would have coped after having everything and everyone he loved taken from him while he was forced to watch and watching others watch while they did nothing to stop it. He made it sound as if Thorin was damaged and someone to be pitied for the damage and he resented Gandalf for using him in such a way. Until he heard Bilbo speak again and realized that it had worked. Bilbo was back. He ignored Gandalf's smug smirk as he turned his attention back to his apologetic mate.
"I . . . I don't . . . I don't know," Bilbo said with a small sound of frustration. He looked nearly panicked as he glanced back at Thorin. "I . . . I'm so sorry, Thorin. I don't know why I lied to you. I . . . I don't remember deciding to do it . . . I . . . I must have done it because . . ."
You did it because the dwarf is greedy, my love, the Ring prompted, knowing that hearing the words coming in Bilbo's tone would hurt the dwarf more than if it said them itself. Do you not recall how he risked your life for gold. He would have taken the Ring from you. He would have claimed it as his own if you had not told him you won it. If you had merely found it . . . he could have laid claim to it as your contractor.
"I . . . I feared that you would take it," Bilbo replied wondering if that was actually what had happened. Had he feared Thorin at that time? He couldn't remember ever fearing Thorin. Not even when the dwarf had been prepared to kill him. He had been heartbroken but he hadn't felt fear. To fear one had to care if one died and Bilbo had not cared. He had almost welcomed death at the time, so great was his heartbreak. Yes, you feared him, my love, the same voice whispered and Bilbo accepted it. It was so useful and dwarves do love gold. He sacrificed his kin for gold and you were only a contracted hobbit, after all. Not even one of his kin. What is your life worth to him?
"Such a useful thing and gold beside," Bilbo continued seeing the logic of the quiet voice. "I know how you dwarves feel about gold. I was worried that if I had simply found it . . . I was contracted as a burglar after all. Anything I found you could claim but what I'd won . . . well that was a different story."
"You thought that I would rob you?" Thorin breathed incredulously. He was deeply hurt that Bilbo could think that he was so base as to rob anyone, let alone his own mate. He could never take what rightfully belonged to another. Not when so much had already been taken from him by the actions of others. He felt anger flood his veins that Bilbo knew him so poorly to think that he could do that. For a millisecond he tried to push it down before he decided not to. He may have been trying to win Bilbo back but if Bilbo wanted emotions and openness he was going to get them. All of them. With this thought in mind, Thorin made no attempt to hide his hurt or anger as he continued
"I have many flaws, Bilbo Baggins," Thorin growled, anger and indignation in his tone, "and I have done many things that I am not proud of—many of them involving you—but I have never stolen anything from anyone. You would not have been the first."
"I-I know that, Thorin," Bilbo replied attempting to appease the angered dwarf still shocked at the emotion Thorin was displaying. Even if anger was not a new one to Bilbo, the hurt underneath it being on display was. He had seen anger from hurt before but then the hurt had only been there if you knew what to look for. It had only been visible in a tenseness around his eyes and mouth but now . . . now it was on full display. You would not have had to know Thorin well to know that Bilbo had just wounded him.
"I . . . I don't know where that came from," Bilbo continued squeezing his eyes shut and fisting his hands in his curly hair as his own emotions and knowledge of his mate warred with his certainty that Thorin would have tried to take it. "I know that you are no thief. I don't . . ."
"It came from the Ring, Bilbo," Gandalf said gently placing a hand on the hobbit's shoulder, his heart constricting as he saw Bilbo's confusion. "My dear hobbit, that is no mere trinket you carry."
"What do you . . . " Bilbo began only to find that he could not find the words he was searching for. It was almost as if part of his brain had been blocked off when it came to questioning the Ring. He tried again and found that he was unable to think about the Ring other than to praise its usefulness. He felt panic begin to flood his veins and turned to the wizard for an explanation.
"Gandalf?" Bilbo whispered in a pathetic voice that broke the hearts of both Thorin and Gandalf at the helplessness there. "What . . . I can't . . . why?" The last word was little more than a sob and the wizard knelt to be more on Bilbo's level and placed a hand on both of his shoulders to look into his eyes.
"That Ring is evil, Bilbo," Gandalf said steadily, gently, never breaking eye contact with the hobbit before him. "It is affecting your mind. It is the reason for the thoughts that you cannot place, and the cause of your bouts of 'madness,' as you are calling them. They are not madness, Bilbo, but rather the manifestation of the Ring. It is not you, my dear hobbit. None of what you have done in those bouts of madness are your own actions."
"I don't understand," Bilbo said desperately. "It's just a ring. It doesn't have a consciousness. How can it have a manifestation?"
"What do you know of Sauron?" Gandalf asked.
"Very little," Bilbo replied even as he felt part of his mind rebel at the question. "Why?"
"That is inconsequential," Gandalf said. "You do know of him, correct?"
"I do," Bilbo agreed. "But what does he have to do with my magic Ring?"
"I believe that your Ring is the Ring that Sauron forged," Gandalf replied. "It is only speculation at this point, mind, but I believe that I am right about the nature of it even if I am not correct as to its identity. The Ring is evil, Bilbo. It is corrupting you."
The wizard lies, my love, the Ring whispered desperately. It had to have this hobbit. Its master was beginning to stir, it wanted to return to him. If it lost this host . . . that did not bear consideration. It had to do what it took to keep Bilbo Baggins. He only wishes to take the Ring from you so that he can have it for his own. Watch, the next thing he will say is that you should give it to him. Mark my words. Just as he always has, he will only use you as a means to his own ends. Just as he did in taking you from your safe home and leading you into danger and heartbreak.
"Evil?" Bilbo asked suspiciously, doubts about Gandalf's motivations both now and in the past beginning to stir within him.
"Yes, Bilbo," Gandalf replied. "The Ring is evil and has a consciousness of its own."
"If that's true, why am I not evil?" Bilbo asked. "I've had it for sixty years and nothing has happened until Thorin . . . does Thorin have something to do with this?" The dwarf shifted uncomfortably at the question and the sharp glance his mate leveled in his direction. The last time he had felt this uncomfortable had been when he had been caught misbehaving by his father as a dwarfling. He had hoped that this part would not come up; he knew that it would only provide the Ring with ammunition against him but he would not lie to Bilbo. Not again.
"I-I may," Thorin replied. "We . . . the Ring may view me as a threat. It . . . it knows that the love you have for me is a threat to its possession of you. Some of this is my fault. I am so very sorry, Bilbo. I never meant to cause you more pain."
"Say I believe you," Bilbo said slowly, looking between the two of them suspiciously as he wondered if Gandalf had brought Thorin back as a means of getting the Ring for himself. "Say I believe that my magic Ring is the evil Ring of Sauron and has been poisoning my mind silently for sixty years until your return triggered it, what can we do about it? If it has so damaged my mind, what do we do?"
"If we separate the Ring from you, your episodes should fade and in time stop entirely," Gandalf said sadly. "I cannot promise that as an outcome but if it remains with you . . . this will only worsen, Bilbo. Soon, they will not be episodes. The Ring will take control of you just as it did Gollum. You will become just as the creature you encountered in the goblin caves. It has already begun. You know this. You know there are two consciousnesses in your body. Give up the Ring, Bilbo." See, my love, nothing but threats. He is trying to frighten you into relinquishing your prize. He wants it for himself. Nothing more.
"You want it for yourself!" Bilbo snapped, echoing the voice of the Ring. "You care not for me! You merely seek to gain a new trinket. Do you truly begrudge me this little bit of power, Gandalf?"
"Foolish hobbit!" Gandalf snapped seeming to grow taller and more menacing at the lie. "Do you know me no better than that after all this time! I do not wish you ill! I am trying to help you, Bilbo Baggins. Has the Ring truly twisted your mind to the extent that you cannot tell friend from foe? You turn on your mate, you turn on me, who is next? Frodo? Does Frodo only want the Ring for himself?"
"Of course not!" Bilbo replied. "Frodo's a hobbit! He has no such ambitions." Are you sure, my love, the Ring whispered. Frodo could seek power. Can you truly say that Frodo would never take it from you?
Yes, Bilbo though vehemently. For the first time he truly believed what Gandalf had said. For the first time he began to believe that something other than himself was manipulating his thoughts. As much as it shamed him, his doubts about Thorin and Gandalf had not convinced him. He supposed it made sense, Thorin had betrayed his trust once before and part of him—an unacknowledged part—had always blamed Gandalf for his heartbreak. But Frodo . . . his cousin had never done anything to warrant any kind of distrust from him. Frodo was good, honest, every bit a proper hobbit despite the misfortunes life had thrown at him and Frodo loved him. No. Frodo would never do anything to cause him ill and any part of him that though so was not truly part of him.
Are you really sure? the Ring whispered, belatedly realizing its mistake and trying desperately to regain control of Bilbo. You were once nothing more than a proper hobbit. Look at you now; not only did you go on an adventure but you took up fornicating with a male dwarf. No respectable hobbit would do such a thing and once you were one of the most respectable. None would now argue that you respectable in the least. Who is to say that Frodo will not follow the same path and that once he does he will not want the Ring? Rather than have the effect that the Ring had hoped for, Bilbo let out a shuddering gasp before looking at Thorin with sad pleading eyes.
The dwarf flinched at the desperation there. Bilbo had never looked at him like that before. The only time that had come close had been when he had been dangling off the side of the pass in the Misty Mountains. He had looked to Thorin to save him then and was doing it once more, despite all of his words about lack of trust and love. And just as then, Thorin could not leave Bilbo to struggle alone, even if he destroyed himself in the process.
"Help me," Bilbo pleaded his voice small and his tone pitiful. Thorin could not say no. Had no desire to say no. Instead, he stepped forward and gently cupped Bilbo's cheek with his hand looking into the tear-filled eyes of his mate.
"I am trying, Bilbo," he breathed. "I will help you if you will only let me. Only you can save yourself from this, but I am here to help you do so in any way I can."
The dwarf lies, my love, the Ring whispered desperately. It could not lose the hobbit. Not now. Not after so long. It could feel its control slipping and knew that it needed to up the stakes. He is lying to you just as he always has.
No, Bilbo thought in reply as he took in Thorin's open, unguarded expression. There was nothing there but love and devotion. He knew in that moment that Thorin was telling him the truth. Even after he had ended it between them, Thorin was still there and he only wanted to help. Thorin had nothing to gain from this and he was still there.
He's not lying to me, Bilbo continued mentally. He has never intentionally lied to me and he is not lying now. True, he has broken promises, but he did mean them when he said them. He means this now.
Regardless of whether or not he meant to, he still broke them, the Ring countered. Rather than listen to it, Bilbo looked at Thorin, determination in his hazel eyes.
"What must I do?" Bilbo asked. "What must I do to be free of this?" Thorin looked at him sadly for a moment, knowing that what he was about to say would not be well received before he sighed.
"You know what you must do, âzyungâl," Thorin said. "You know that there is only one option. Will you truly make me say it?" Bilbo looked at him almost as if he was confused and Thorin sighed once more. "You must give up the Ring, Bilbo. It is the only way." Thorin felt anger flood his veins as the-thing-that-looked-like-Bilbo swatted his hand away.
"You would say that, Thorin," Ring-Bilbo snarled taking control once more in an attempt to provoke Thorin to violence and shatter Bilbo's faith in him once more. Even if such a thing ended in Bilbo's death, it was fine. The Ring always had more control more quickly when it passed to a new host through violence. A dwarves . . . with their greed it would be simple to manipulate him. Additionally he had no one. If they would not allow the hobbit to keep the Ring, it was content to pass to the dwarf. "Your greed would lead you to suggest such a thing! You have never cared for anything other than fame and greed!"
"If it was greed and desire for the Ring I would already have taken it, Bilbo," Thorin replied coldly. "You have already said that if I wished to kill you I could easily do so. If I truly wanted the Ring for myself I would not waste time attempting to persuade you to part with it. If I was as greedy as you claim, I would simply take it. If I cared so little for you as you claim your life would not matter enough for me to restrain myself from my greed. Clearly you are wrong about at least one of those things."
"Who's to say that you won't?" Ring-Bilbo demanded. For a moment, Thorin allowed himself to pretend that it was his Bilbo that had said such a cruel thing to him and allowed the pain of such a thought into his face and his words.
"Do you truly think me capable of such a thing?" Thorin whispered. "Do you truly think that I could murder and then rob you?"
"No," Bilbo whimpered. "I . . . I don't think that. I . . . Thorin, please, help me. I . . . I don't think any of that about you. I . . . help me!"
"I want to, âzyungâl," Thorin replied moving so that Bilbo was cradled gently against his chest and whispering into the hobbit's ear. "I want to help you. Help me to help you. Give me the Ring. Or throw it away if you do not wish me to have it. Get rid of the Ring, Bilbo. If not for yourself, then do it for me. For Frodo. It hurts us to see you this way. I know that you do not want to keep hurting us, my dear hobbit." Bilbo drew a shuddering breath before Thorin felt him nod against his chest and step back slightly.
His hand shook as he reached for the pocket of his waistcoat where the Ring had resided for sixty years. He knew that it was for the best, but he was reluctant to part with it. It had been so useful. He glanced at Thorin and the dwarf gave him a reassuring smile and nod and with a deep sigh, Bilbo pulled the Ring from his pocket and held it inside his closed hand. He extended it towards Thorin, his hand still securely wrapped around the little bit of warm gold. It felt so heavy in his hand, almost as if it weighed more than it had only moments before. With a conscious effort, Bilbo forced his hand open and allowed Thorin to see the Ring for the first time.
Thorin could not keep the sneer off his face as he saw the little bit of gold that had swayed his mate against him and had done so much harm to Bilbo even before that. He had never before felt such hatred for gold. The only thing that came close was his resentment at the gold of his grandfather for causing the loss of his nephews and his mate, but then, the hatred had been more internally directed. The gold itself had not killed them; it had been his own choices that had done that. Here . . . here it was the gold itself that was intent on destroying lives. He watched as Bilbo's hand shook as if under a great weight and reached forward to place his hand on the hobbit's shoulder only to have his hand batted away before Bilbo curled around his hand protectively.
"You would strike me over a tiny bit of gold," Thorin asked in a quiet, pain-filled voice as he saw just how changed Bilbo had truly become.
"Why not?" Bilbo snarled, his voice midway between the Bilbo that Thorin loved and the voice the Ring used to speak and it simultaneously broke the dwarf's heart and filled him with rage. "You did me."
"Yes," Thorin agreed swallowing around the pain of being reminded of just what he had done to his mate all those years ago. He could still feel the sting on the back of his hand where he had struck Bilbo and could see the shock in his hazel eyes and the livid red mark on his cheek and the blood where his lip had split. All damage written into his skin and soul by Thorin's hand. Though it had paled in comparison to what had followed.
"I did," Thorin acknowledged again. "And you called me a fool for it. And rightly so. But tell me this, Bilbo Baggins. If I was a fool for doing so, what does that make you? You who was once the wisest of us all and told me that Erebor could not survive on gold alone and that we would need the goodwill of the surrounding lands unless dwarves were capable of eating gold, as hobbits were not. You who was the only one of us who realized that gold was not worth lives before it was too late and the lives were already lost.
"Tell me," Thorin continued around the tears that threatened to fall as the bitter memories of those fateful last days in the mountain were drug to the surface once more, "if I was a fool for losing your trust to my own gold-madness, what does that make you for losing yourself to it?" Bilbo's face softened at the admitance of Thorin's foolishness and the dwarf's praises of his intelegence but there was still a nagging voice that refused to be silenced.
"But . . . Gandalf," Bilbo began.
"My opinions on the old wizard aside," Thorin said with a snort, "he has yet to lead you wrong, Bilbo. He has been a good friend to you and has always provided you with good council. If it weren't for the stubbornness of dwarves." Thorin smirked at the wizard and thought that he saw Gandalf's mouth quirk upward before he turned back to Bilbo.
"Come now, âzyungâl, give me the Ring," Thorin said extending his hand palm up towards Bilbo. Bilbo hesitated, the voice in his mind screaming that Thorin and Gandalf were in this together and only sought his ruin. No, Bilbo thought firmly as he looked from one pained set of blue eyes to the other, they do not. With a deep sigh, he extended his hand before he could change his mind and dropped the Ring into Thorin's hand before pulling his hand back as if he had been scalded.
As soon as it hit his skin, the Ring changed its temperature to match his own warmer temperature and grew in size so that it would fit his fingers rather than Bilbo's. Only half a second later he heard it begin to whisper to him, promising gold and power and fame. He heard himself laugh humorlessly. Sixty years ago that might have worked—no, would have worked—but not now. Now he desired none of those things. What he wanted, the Ring could not offer him. With a sneer on his face, he dropped it into the envelope that they had brought just for that purpose and slipped it into his pocket to be sealed once they returned to Bag End.
Their task was accomplished. Bilbo was separated from the Ring, however, he felt no sense of accomplishment. He knew that the task was done but he could not stop himself from worrying that Gandalf was wrong about the effect that the separation would have. After all, Thorin, fate and luck had never been good friends.
ooOO88OOoo
First off, I am so very sorry that this took so long, but this chapter was very difficult for me to write for some reason. Add to that that I have next to no time and well ... long delays result. I hope that it was worth the wait and I will be replying to reviews shortly.
As always thank you for taking the time to read and I would love to know what you thought!
The Ring: Ha! Really? That's what you chose to call yourself this time? You are aware that you picked to call yourself by one of the most hated things in this fanfic, right ... the only worse thing that you could have chose would have been "the Arkenstone" XD and nuh uh! you can't just quit rooting for the evil Ring because it's being evil lol And don't worry, Thorin's a stubborn thing. He's not going to go without one last fight :)
Guest: I'm sorry that I almost made you cry :( and as long as you pass it's all good :) We're all a little crazy here :) And I'm glad that you picked up on that :) I wondered if anyone would. And don't worry, the Ring's about out of the picture :) the stubborn greedy dwarves... I'm afraid that they're here to stay ;) But you wouldn't have it any other way, right?
Becca: He is. And it's not a lie at the moment. Bilbo's very hurt and very confused but he'll get it all figured out :) And he did. Thorin cried. And you can now answer that question yourself :) and no, Gollum would not be a pretty picture for Thorin to have knowing that is where Bilbo could have been headed :( Poor things :(