So here is the other part of the battle. Enjoy. By the way, keep your tissues handy for this chapter. You're going to be needing them.
Khuzdul. Sindarin. Ojibwe.
Disclaimer: I don't own the Hobbit or LOTR.
On the fields of Pellenor…
Outside of the city of Minas Tirith, the battle being waged between the orcs and the joint armies of Erebor and Rohan is still going. Many orcs and goblins are being killed, but not enough. While the dwarves have lost only an eighth of their forces. Rohan, however, has lost almost one-fourth of its army.
Éomer, noticing a river in the distance, calls out to his troops to drive the orcs towards the body of water. Hearing the heir of Rohan's call, Fili calls out to his own troops to join in with the muster charge. Kili, not too far behind his brother, calls out to several of his own archers to join in. But before they can start the offensive move, they hear someone shout out to them.
"Make safe the city!" Théoden shouts from his spot on the field.
Inara, who is only several feet away from Théoden, hears a thudding on the ground as well as shouting from an unknown source. A shiver runs through her body as that sinking feeling in her gut grows stronger.
"Oh fuck." Inara whispers to herself, holding tight to her bloodied sword. "What the hell is this?"
The sound of a running ram comes up alongside Inara's ram has her attention pulled away from the oncoming threat. It comes as no surprise to her when she sees Thorin's ram next to hers.
"Inara. We need to regroup." Thorin calls out to her over the thuds of the approaching reinforcements. "Come. We must join the others."
The married couple sends their rams back to where the others are now regrouping. With horses, rams, and dwarves who are on foot, the army is pulling itself back into ranks. Trying to keep the horses and rams calm with the Haradrim chanting echoing across the field is a hard task, but a necessary one for everyone.
"How the hell are we to fight those things?" Frerin asks as he runs, on foot, to where his parents are.
"Better question is what are those animals?" Durin asks as he comes to stand next to Thorin's ram.
"Those are Oliphaunts." Thorin replies, answering his son's questions. "We will have a hard time taking them down."
"We can do it, though." Inara says with some worry in her voice. "I mean; it can't be too hard? Can it?"
"It won't. We will take them head on!" Théoden shouts to any who can hear his voice. Pointing his sword towards the approaching enemy, and their large Oliphaunts, Théoden calls for a charge.
Before either of their parents' rams can charge forwards, Durin and Frerin jump up to join their parents on the rams. Frerin rides with Inara, while Durin rides with Thorin. Knowing that their twins are with them, Inara and Thorin feel slightly relieved to know exactly where their twins are.
Upon reaching the striking zone of the Oliphaunts and their tusks, many of the horses and rams are knocked away. While many of the riders of these steads are thrown even greater distances through the air. Luck would have it that Thorin, Inara, and their twins make it past the swinging tusks and the large feet of the over-sized animals.
Elsewhere on the battlefield, Kili is firing arrows at the large creatures alongside many of the Rohan fighters who are also firing arrows at the beasts. Seeing that the arrows aren't even slowing the creatures down, Kili lets out a growl of frustration.
"Uncle!" a young male voice calls out.
Kili turns his head to see Fili approaching on his ram, with Balder seated directly behind him.
"Kili." Fili says as he brings his ram alongside Kili's.
"Arrows will not work against these massive beasts." Kili says as he maneuvers his ram away from a rampaging Oliphant.
"So I noticed." Fili replies back while bringing his ram to be next to Kili's ram. "I have a different idea on how to bring them down."
"Oh? And what scheme do you suggest?" Kili asks his nadad.
"Do we have any rope or chains that are made with Iron or Mithril?"
Kili, realizing what his nadad is suggesting, allows a smirk to appear on his face. "I think so."
Balder, noticing the shared look between Kili and Fili, lets out an exaggerated sigh before having to hold on tight to his adad at the quick movements of the ram.
Tauriel, meanwhile, has taken possession of a Rohan horse whose rider had been struck down and was dead. Using the dark-haired, tan horse Tauriel weaves through the other riders. It doesn't pass her notice that many rams and dwarves have fallen victim to the Oliphaunts. There have already been several times where she has done a double take over the fallen to make sure that none of them were Kili. Yet her main goal while riding is to find Inara. Her and the Queen of Erebor had become separated after breaking into the armies of Mordor earlier.
As she sends her horse to the left, Tauriel notices that a certain male rider has come to a stop in the path of an approaching Oliphant. Whispering in elvish to the horse, Tauriel and her horse ride faster towards the man. A glint of something shiny catches the elleth's attention, before it flies towards the Oliphant.
"Look out!" Tauriel cries out at the rider as she nears him.
The rider has his horse move, just a bit, so that they are clear from the now swerving Oliphant. However, that doesn't mean that he is out of danger yet. Another Oliphant moves towards the rider and now Tauriel.
"Noro Lim! Noro Lim!" Tauriel calls out, not just to her horse, but to the riders' horse as well.
The riders' horse bolts from its stationary position, and begins to gallop as Tauriel's horse comes up alongside.
"What the…" the rider yells at his horse, wondering why it had moved to quickly without him giving it a command. Then he notices the other horse coming up alongside. It is now that the rider realizes that his horse must have been told to move by the red-haired elleth.
"You're welcome! And have your men aim for the heads!" Tauriel shouts to the man, who she now sees is no other than Éomer, before riding off in search her family.
Back in Minas Tirith…
Outside of a gateway door to the next level of the city, there is a large creature slamming an equally large weapon against the wooden door. Behind the creature is row-upon-row of goblins, orcs, and other such ilk from Mordor; all waiting to destroy the men that lay in wait on the other side.
A large number of the remaining fighting men of Minas Tirith are too waiting for the upcoming breach of the door. It is inevitable, even with the last minute fortification, using spears and broken pieces of furniture to help secure it.
Resting for a moment, on a small stone porch, Gandalf and his two small companions sit and wait. He is not surprised to see the youngest daughter of Kili and Tauriel has turned herself into a moving arsenal of daggers, hidden knives, and two short swords. Toril has definitely taken after Fili in the hiding away as many weapons as possible on your person.
"I didn't think it would end this way." Pippin sadly says to Gandalf.
"Don't say such things, Pippin." Toril grouses out at the hobbit.
"End?" Gandalf gives the hobbit a skeptical look. "No, the journey doesn't end here. Death is just another path, one that we must all take. They grey rain curtain of this world rolls back, and all turns to silver glass. And then you see it."
"What, Gandalf?" Pippin asks with fascination at hearing Gandalf talk of death so beautifully.
Even Toril, who was raised with the dwarven version of an afterlife, has become enraptured by the wizard's eloquent words. "See what?"
Gandalf looks sadly at both of the young ones, who he has become so fond of since meeting them.
"White shores," Gandalf says as he looks away from Toril and Pippin, like if he can already see what he is describing. "and beyond. A far green country under a swift sunrise."
"Well, that isn't so bad." Pippin says to Gandalf.
"No. No it isn't."
"Sounds like what Inara tells to those to those who are dying, while she holds their hands." Toril softly tells the other two.
The banging on the gate door becomes louder and Pippin shuts his eyes with fear over what will come. He feels an arm wrap around his shoulder and a gentle kiss is placed against his temple.
"Have strength, Pippin." Toril whispers against his temple, and she can see out of the corner of her eyes that Gandalf is giving her a reassuring look. "It'll be over soon. It will ALL be over soon."
Back on the battlefield…
Thorin, Inara, and their twin boys have become separated while riding through and evading the Oliphaunts. Frerin and Thorin are still riding on the same ram together near where Théoden is trying to rally their forces. Inara and Durin, however, are nowhere to be seen by the former king and current crowned prince.
"Where is Amad and Durin, Adad?" Frerin speaks directly into Thorin's ear so that he can be heard over top of Théoden's shouting.
"I don't know." Thorin answers back. He tries hard not to show it, but deep down Thorin is worried about Inara and their other son.
As the men, and what remains of the dwarves, begin to rally around Théoden there is an awful screech that echoes from the distance.
"Thorin!" Fili shouts as his ram charges towards Thorin's ram. Kili's ram is following after Fili's as his Tauriel on her horse.
"Have you seen Inara?" Thorin shouts to Fili as his sister's sons reach him.
"No." Fili says with frustration in his voice.
"Is she missing?" Kili asks just as another screech flies through the air, but this time much closer.
None of the royal family of Erebor realize that something is wrong till the men of Rohan begin screaming in fear. All of them look to see that a Ringwraith and Nazgul is upon them till it almost too late. The rams all bolt, without their rider's commands, away from where Théoden's horse is.
"Look out!" a familiar, multi-voices cry out suddenly.
Before the Nazgul can take its intended victim, Durin comes out of nowhere and tackles King Théoden off of his horse and out of the way of the mouth full of teeth. Both of them land with a hard thud as the Ringwraith takes hold of white horse with its mouth. Many of the other riders and their steeds have cleared away from the Ringwraith and Nazgul. Well, all but one.
Still seated on her ram, Inara glares angrily at the Ringwraith and its Nazgul.
"It is I whom you seek, servant of darkness. Face me!" the multi-voices coming from Inara's own mouth shout at the creature.
The Nazgul's cloaked rider points its sword at Inara, but it doesn't say a word to the woman. Instead, the creature that it rides upon whips its head at Inara's ram. Before its head reaches the ram, Inara throws herself to the ground. The Nazgul's hot breath hits Inara just as a loud, gut-wrenching cry from the ram is heard. Looking over her shoulder, Inara sees that the Nazgul has its mouth full of the ram that she was riding upon, and its eyes were now fixed on her.
"No!" Thorin bellows out as his ram charges towards the Nazgul.
It is at this point that another Ringwraith's screech draws closer towards where the others are gathered. This particular Ringwraith and Nazgul are heading straight towards where the rest of the royal family of Erebor has gathered. Yet, before it can reach its intended target another moves into the direct line of attack. There, heading towards the group of dwarves, is another prized victim being led by yet another dwarf to safety. The rider of the Nazgul allows his creature go for the King of Rohan instead of the King of Erebor. They can always kill the dwarf king once this other king is dead.
The Nazgul, following its rider's commands, gives one more mighty flap of its wings for an extra boost of speed. With ease, the Nazgul's head passes the running dwarf and man before swinging its head at them. The dwarf had dived to the ground, but the man isn't as lucky. The force of the Nazgul's head causes the man to go flying across the battlefield and land with a bone-crushing thud a bit of a distance away. It is towards the man, that the Ringwraith sends his creature and it isn't disappointed at seeing the dwarves rushing towards the fallen man. But they won't reach him in time since the dwarves are now being set upon by the Haradrim fighters who have come down from their Oliphaunts.
With the second Nazgul having landed, everything is thrown into chaos. The royal family is split up again thanks to their rams fleeing from the large, flying threats. However, there are four members of the royal family who are still near one of these massive creatures.
As Thorin's ram gets closer to Inara, the Ringwraith's attention is drawn to the dwarf and his animal. The Nazgul lets out another screech, but with as strong as Thorin's grip in on the reigns, the ram doesn't run away. Yet, this action will prove to be fatal. The Nazgul's head darts forwards, and Thorin reaches a hand back to take hold of Frerin. Just as the Nazgul's mouth is close, Thorin shoves Frerin off of the ram before diving out of the way. But Thorin's reflexes aren't as fast as they once were. As he falls from the ram, the teeth of the Ringwraith cut into Thorin's right shoulder and abdomen with his right arm and most of his right leg inside the mouth.
The Ringwraith, feeling victorious at having taken the ram, jerks its head up to swallow the ram whole. When it feels that its mouth isn't closing fully, the Ringwraith bites down hard at what it causing its mouth to be partially open.
Thorin lets out a pain-filled shout as he feels the Nazgul's teeth puncture through all of his armor. The penetration of the teeth into his abdomen and the pressure that the creature is applying is so great, that Thorin can feel bones being broken. In an attempt to free himself, Thorin shoves a hidden dagger, that Fili had given him long ago back in the Blue Mountains, into the closer of the Nazgul's two eyes.
"Thorin!" Inara screams as she has to helplessly watch him suffer. She can see it on Thorin's face, the pain he is feeling.
"No! Adad!" Frerin shouts out as he rises up from where he had fallen.
Both mother and son watch as the Nazgul holds Thorin in its mouth, and it is with horror as they watch the Nazgul begin to swing its head around. It does so violently till it finally opens its mouth and sends Thorin flying through the air.
"Frerin, go!" Inara screams to her son, knowing that he will understand that she wants him to go find where Thorin has landed in the distance.
Frerin doesn't hesitate to comply with his mother's command, and takes off in the direction where his adad's body had been thrown.
The rider of the Nazgul, however, has kept his attention on Inara the entire time. So it doesn't surprise the rider when it finds Inara looking at it directly.
Pulling one of the many tomahawks from her waist, Inara doesn't hold on to it long as she begins throwing them at the Nazgul and its rider. She doesn't allow herself to be fazed the screeching that the Ringwraith does. It is only when the winged creature swings its head towards her that Inara allows herself to break her glare at the rider.
Diving into a roll, Inara twists her body so that when the Nazgul's neck moves past her she is able to jam a thick, long dagger into its skin. With the neck still moving past her, the dagger is able to make a long, deep cut into it, which from the amount of black blood that is coming out of the cut so far should signal that a major artery was sliced. Once the neck has passed over Inara, she rolls to her knees and watches at the Nazgul lets out a screech and begins to bang its neck onto the ground. Inara lets a smirk appear on her face as she watches the creature thrash about, trying to figure out what has happened to its neck.
The rider of the Nazgul, however, isn't impressed with Inara's ability to injure his ride. In a quick flash of movement, the Ringwraith comes down from his Nazgul and begins to attack Inara.
Seeing the movement from the corner of her eye, Inara evades the attacking Ringwraith with as much agility as she can muster. She no longer has her red, dwarven made sword, having lost it somewhere else on the battlefield. All Inara has on her person is one last tomahawk and the long dagger in her hand. Side-stepping every attack, Inara pulls the last tomahawk from at her waist. With a weapon in each hand, Inara holds on to them as she keeps moving past each attack.
With each swing of the Ringwraith's blade, Inara blocks the sword's blade using her tomahawk's blunt end of the iron head. After each block, she counter attacks with the long dagger in her hand. Yet with each attack Inara does, the Ringwraith seems to be one step ahead of her. She is trying hard to keep tabs on not just the Ringwraith, but of the Nazgul that is still nearby. With her attention focused on both adversaries, she can't afford to slip up during the fight. But a loud thud coming from the Nazgul, which is now behind her, Inara's attention slides away from the Ringwraith. This slip up gives way to the Ringwraith having the upper hand.
As Inara twists her body so that she can actually see the Nazgul behind her, a sharp and blinding wave of pain flows through her body. Turning her head back towards the Ringwraith, Inara sees that the end of its blade has embedded itself into the upper part of her right hip. The blade has gotten under the edge of her Mithril under armor and her leather pants.
"Got you." The Ringwraith rasps out before pulling his sword from Inara's body.
Inara, though in pain, tries to keep herself up on her feet. She refuses to let her quaking legs give way. Glaring at the Ringwraith, Inara pulls her arms into a defensive posture so that both weapons are in front of her chest.
"It's just a scratch. You haven't defeated me yet, bastard." Inara growls, letting her pain fuel her angry words.
"No. Our master waits for your arrival."
"I'd rather die."
Before the Ringwraith can move closer to Inara, a loud battle yell breaks the tension as Balder, Fili, and Durin come out of nowhere and begin attacking Inara's foe. All three males keep attacking the Ringwraith, none of them giving it the chance to attack. Fili aims his twin blades to the mid and lower sections of the tall foe, while Balder and Durin take the upper section with their weapons.
"Inara! Duck!" Kili shouts as he slams his body into Inara's, causing them both to move out of the way of the Nazgul's head.
Tauriel, who had finally found Kili and their family only a few short minutes ago, rushes at the Nazgul's head. Using her elven speed and flexibility, Tauriel is able to run up the Nazgul's neck while dragging Kili's sword through the flesh of the beast. As she reaches the body of the Nazgul, she pulls the sword up out of the flesh of the neck and takes hold of the lose reigns. Using her momentum, Tauriel jumps off of the Nazgul and uses the reigns like a pendulum that will propel her towards the chest of the beast. Making sure that she has a good hold Kili's sword, she brings it up just as she is close to the chest.
"Ahhhrrgh." Tauriel lets slip from her mouth as the sword plunges into the flesh of the Nazgul. The sword goes in so deep that half of her arm also enters with it.
The Nazgul cries out in pain from Tauriel's assault, and begins to violently shake its body.
Seeing Tauriel on the chest of the beast, Kili quickly pulls his bow from his back and begins firing arrow after arrow at the Nazgul. Each arrow hits it mark with precision and makes the Nazgul roar in pain.
"Tauriel, get out of there!" Kili shouts as he keeps shooting arrows.
"I'm trying!" Tauriel screams back as she tries to pull her arm out of the Nazgul's chest.
"Well try harder!" Kili shouts back.
Inara, who is lying on the ground where she landed after being body slammed by Kili, is leaning on her elbows while trying to look around at what is going on around her. Her vision is slightly blurry, but that is to be expected from hitting the ground as hard as she did. She can hear the yelling going on between Kili and Tauriel, but Inara wants to know what all is going on with the other three. Looking to her right, Inara watches with some awe as to the fighting that is going on.
Fili blocks the Ringwraith's swing blade and tries to trap the longer sword between his twin blades, but the Ringwraith pulls his sword back. Balder attacks next, coming from the side, which causes the Ringwraith to turn and block his attack. Unknown to the Ringwraith, Durin is charging in from behind with a red looking sword. With the Ringwraith occupied between Fili's locking block and Balder's attack, Durin is able to stab the red sword into the Ringwraith's back. This causes a shockwave to fly out from it, which knocks the three of them away before the black robes of the Ringwraith explode.
With the Ringwraith gone, Fili quickly gets up from the ground and rushes to where Inara is.
"Where is Thorin?" Inara gasps out as she tries to get up onto her knees.
"Inara, you're bleeding." Fili huffs out as he tries to push the woman back to the ground.
"It's just a scratch." Inara painfully chuckles out while pushing Fili's hands away.
The sound of a loud thud, from just beyond Inara's left shoulder, signals the end of the Nazgul.
"Tauriel!" Kili shouts.
Inara and Fili towards the fallen beast to see Kili rushing towards the dead thing. Both Balder and Durin take off after Kili, while Inara and Fili stay where they are. The two of them watch as Kili, Balder, and Durin begin trying to lift some of the beast up from the ground.
"Fuck." Inara gasps out as a fresh wave of pain erupts from her wound. She folds over so that she is on her elbows and knees.
Prodding from large fingers against her outer armor causes Inara to look over her shoulder. She watches as Fili carefully moves some of her armor and clothes away from the wound. Keeping her eyes on Fili, she watches with a sick fascination as the dwarf rips some of his own clothes to make a temporary bandage for her wound.
"We don't have time to clean it, but this should help slow the bleeding." Fili says to Inara while pressing a torn piece of fabric to her wound. He then pulled a thin looking belt from somewhere in his clothes.
"Do I want to know where you were hiding that?" Inara teases in a rough sounding voice.
Fili pops an eye brow at Inara before answering her. "I have always carried a spare belt on me since Kili and I were lads. Never knew if Kili was going to lose his own after an afternoon jump in a stream or pond."
Once Fili had finished with tightening the spare belt around Inara's hips, he helps the woman to stand up on her own two feet. Joining the pair, Balder and Durin have made their way over to the two and Durin pulls his mother into a hug.
"I hate to end this, but we are in the middle of a battlefield." Kili says with a blood covered Tauriel by his side. "Now isn't the time for hugs."
Not even a minute after Kili spoke his words, the small group find themselves being surrounded by Haradrim fighters and goblins from Mordor. The family form up in a circle, with their backs to each other as they face their enemies.
By the river…
The Corsair ships have arrived for battle, and this has spurned those orcs and goblins that were waiting for them into excitement. However, what they weren't counting on was that those ships did not hold friends, but foes. One of the ships had come up alongside the docks, but the ship stayed silent. After one of the awaiting orc commanders threw some insults at what it thought was the Corsairs leadership, he was then mistaken as only four individuals jumped off of the ship.
Aragorn lands first on the dock, followed by Gimli; Legolas; and then Kelda. Striding towards the enemy, Aragorn shows no fear towards the troops of the enemy.
"There is plenty for both of us." Gimli calls out to Legolas as he raises his axe in preparation for battle. "May the best Dwarf win!"
Kelda chuckles softly at her cousin's ignorance of her presence, but she pulls out her own twin, katana-like blades that Elrond had given her before she left with Aragorn that night on Dunharrow.
"Does he make it a point to exclude you?" Legolas says as he brings forth his bow and knocks an arrow.
"Only when he thinks I may beat him." Kelda retorts just as they begin to charge forth with the ghost army following behind them.
They fight their way out of the ruins of the small village by the river, and make their way out onto the plains that lay before Minas Tirith. Gimli and Legolas keep shouting the latest number of dead enemies that they have killed, while Kelda keeps tally in her head. However, the loud breathing of an oncoming Oliphant causes Kelda to feel a rush of apprehension about attacking the animal.
"Legolas!" Aragorn's voice calls out from the battlefield.
Legolas, who hears his friend's call, looks towards the coming beast before looking over at Kelda. His eyes have a slight shine to them when he sees her put away her two blades. "Care to join me?"
"Only if you share the point." Kelda answers back just as the two of them run towards the Oliphant.
As they get close, Legolas tells Kelda to take the left and that he will take the right. The tusks of the Oliphant swing towards them, and the pair jump on to their aforementioned sides. Kelda takes hold of the large barbed end to her tusk, and begins to follow Legolas lead by swinging her onto the top part of the tusk. Trying to stay clear of the moving trunk, Kelda runs up the long tusk, getting father up than Legolas did, before having to jump towards the body of the beast.
Kelda grabs hold of a few of the thick arrows that have stuck into the Oliphant's upper legs, and using those arrows, Kelda is able to make her way up towards the back of the Oliphant. She has lost sight of Legolas, but knows he is on the back when Haradrim soldiers begin falling off of the Oliphant.
"Time to make my entrance." Kelda whispers to herself as she continues going up.
Using her dwarven strength and her elven flexibility, Kelda leaps up towards the massive structure that rests on the beasts back. Landing on her feet, Kelda has to duck out of the way of a blade that is being held by the driver of the beast.
"Not good." Kelda says as she has to step back and out of the way of the swinging blade. "Definitely not good."
"Kelda!" Legolas's voice calls out in warning.
The whole structure under Kelda's feet begins to sway and slide off of the back of the Oliphant. Knowing she only has seconds to react, Kelda runs as the structure begins to fall. Seeing a rail coming towards her, Kelda uses that to propel herself towards Legolas, who is now standing on the back of the beast. She reaches a hand towards his own out stretched hand, and lock their hands together so that Legolas can help pull her up.
"That was close." Kelda says once she is safely on the back of the Oliphant's bare back. "Next time, give me a bigger warning."
Legolas gives Kelda a smirk before turning his attention to stopping the rampaging Oliphant. Following Legolas's lead, she quickly pulls out one of her long blades and rams the sword into the back of the neck, near the base of the head of the beast. This causes the beast's steps to falter, and knowing that they are going down with the animal, Legolas takes hold of Kelda's waist. Then the pair use the trunk as a slide as they glide down the massive trunk before landing onto the ground.
"That still only counts as one, but only for one of you." Gimli grouses at seeing the two of them share in taking down the massive beast.
As the battle dies down with the running sounds of escaping orcs, goblins, and the like, many of the survivors begin searching out for those injured enemies who still lay on the battlefield alive. These injured enemies are dispatched into death, so that they cannot return to their master.
With the final living enemy dead, there on the battlefield, Gandalf and his two companions have ventured out from the white city to find those who may be in need of aid. They walk along the many dead bodies of enemies, and allies, till they come across where Aragorn is standing before the ghost army that helped turn the tide of this large battle.
"Release us." One of the ghosts says to Aragorn as both Pippin and Toril watch the exchange.
As they ghost army begins to disappear, after having fulfilled their oath, a quick wind blows for a few minutes till the army is no more.
"Toril?" Kelda says as she just now realizes that her namad is there.
"Kelda." Toril whispers as she allows tears to build in her eyes at seeing Kelda. Not caring if anyone sees her cry, Toril runs to Kelda and the two sisters hold each other close.
"We should begin searching for survivors." Gandalf says to Aragorn.
"Agreed." Gimli says as he makes his way over to his two female cousins. "You two will stay with me till we find the others."
Breaking off into small search parties many of the men and dwarves begin the task of taking count of their fallen brethren, and getting those injured to the healers. Many of those injured are taken directly to Gandalf and two of the dwarven healers before being sent to the white city for further care.
As the search for survivors continues Kelda, Gimli, Toril, and Pippin stay together. Pippin, having found Merry's cloak, is searching high and low for his cousin. Toril stays by Pippin's side as they both search for the other hobbit. While Kelda and Gimli are not too far off, checking every dead dwarf and man for any signs of life.
At another part of the battlefield, Inara is stumbling through the scores of bodies looking for where Frerin and Thorin ended up. She refuses to believe that either one of them is dead, but seeing all the carnage around her it is hard for her to keep faith. Before she had set out in her search, Fili had tried his hardest to get Inara to see Gandalf about her wounds, but she stubbornly refused to go with the others.
Kili had only a few scratches on his body that shows that he was in battle. However, Tauriel was in a worse state. Three-fourths of her long locks had been lost to the blade of an enemy's sword, and she also has a broken arm that has bone sticking out of the skin. Kili refused to leave Tauriel's side, so those two were headed for the healers together. Balder was now sporting one black eye, a busted lip, a cracked jawbone, and several cracked ribs. As for Durin, his injuries comprised of a broken leg and a head injury that has a hand-sized flap of skin and hair hanging from behind his left ear.
"I don't see them yet, Inara." Fili says from behind Inara. He too refused to go to the healers after Inara had stated that she wouldn't go without knowing where Thorin or Frerin were. Any like Inara, Fili is ignoring his injuries; a sprained ankle, two broken fingers, and several small cuts on his body.
Inara keeps stumbling forwards; her eyes roaming over every single body with the hope that one of them may be Thorin or Frerin. A slight cough in the distance catches Fili and Inara's attention. Both move as quickly as they are able towards the coughing sound. It is there, near a pile of orcs, that they can see a dark-haired dwarf.
"No." Inara gasps out as she hurries towards the dwarf. "No. No. No. No."
The dark-haired dwarf coughs some more, with a small trickle of blood coming out of the corner of his mouth. His breathing is shallow, and it is getting harder to keep on breathing.
"Thorin!" Inara's scream echoes across the battlefield. It is so loud that even those who are a distance away can hear it.
Thorin is lying on the ground, not having moved an inch since landing there earlier. He tries to turn his head towards the sound of his yâsith's voice, but it is too difficult for him. The crunching of footsteps lets Thorin know that Inara is now close to him.
"Oh god. Thorin." Inara's voice wavers as she kneels next to his body. Her eyes begin to take in the large amount of blood that surrounds the dwarf's body. Being as gentle as she can, Inara places her hands against his cool face.
"Inara." Thorin gasps out as his eyes focus on Inara's face.
"I'm here. So is Fili. We found you."
"Uncle!" Fili says loudly as he kneels down on Thorin's other side.
"Fili." Thorin rasps out. "Kili?"
"He's alright. The lucky dog made it through with barely a scratch on him." Fili chuckles out as his voice becomes thick with emotion. "You taught us well."
"Good." Thorin slowly nods his head before going coughing again.
"Take it easy, Thorin. You shouldn't move so much till a healer has seen to your injuries." Inara says with hope in her voice.
"It's too late for me." Thorin rasps out.
"Don't say that. Thorin, you are the strongest dwarf I know. You are too stubborn to die." Inara takes hold of one of Thorin's cold hands and places it against her chest, above her heart.
Thorin closes his eyes for a second before looking towards Fili. "Take of them."
"I will." Fili replies sadly, knowing that this is Thorin's last request of him. "I promise."
Thorin closes his eyes one last time before his chest finally releases a loud sigh.
"No. Thorin." Inara says, allowing tears to flow from her eyes. Knowing that he is no longer living, Inara lets go of her emotions. "Damn it, you can't leave me. Thorin! THORIN! NO!"
Curling over Thorin's chest, Inara places her over hand over where his heart should have been beating. Feeling nothing there, Inara allows herself to fall against Thorin's chest as she weeps heavily. She doesn't care if this isn't how she is supposed to act, nor does she care if it makes her look less queenly. Having lost one of the most important people in her life, Inara allows herself to breakdown like she has never done so before.
Fili can only watch the scene before him, with his own heart breaking. Not only for his loss of his uncle, but for the pain that Inara is going through, and the pain that will come to the rest of the family once they find out about Thorin's death. His own tears flow down his cheeks as he thinks of how empty life will be like without Thorin around. Keeping a silent vigil, Fili stays with Inara as they wait for someone to come.
It isn't long before racing footsteps through the grass pulls Fili's attention away from Inara's sobbing. Turing his head towards the newcomers Fili sees that Aragorn, Gandalf, Kelda, Gimli, and Legolas have come. Fili sees Gandalf's face take on a sad and weary look to it. Gimli, however, is the most vocal about it as he falls to his knees and lets out his own sad wails.
Aragorn, however, slowly approaches Inara and Fili scowls at the man. He watches as Aragorn gently places a hand on Inara's shoulder in too familiar a way. With a quick movement, Fili places the end of one of his hidden daggers against Aragorn's hand.
"Do not touch her." Fili growls out through his tears.
"I only mean to help." Aragorn says softly.
"I don't care. You will not touch her."
"Fili." Gandalf says in warning to the dwarf king. "Aragorn is only trying to help. If you haven't noticed, the strength of Inara's weeping has caused her to pass out. We cannot allow her to lay next to a dead body. You know this."
Fili turns to look at Gandalf before speaking again. "Then let Kelda take Inara to the healers. I will leave Thorin's body under Gimli's watchful eyes, wizard. But the man and elf will come with me."
"Where?" Legolas asks as he watches the battered dwarf king struggle to stand up.
"Frerin is still missing." Fili growls out to the elf. "Inara has already lost Thorin, I pray that she doesn't lose a son as well."
Fili hobbles off with Legolas, Aragorn, and Gandalf following him. He knows that they are keeping a small distance from him, not out of safety to themselves, but out of respect for him. An emotional dwarf is a dangerous dwarf because you never know what they might do next. They walk for a time before Aragorn's voice breaks through Fili's raging mind.
"Over here!" Aragorn calls out as he kneels next to a severely injured dwarf who is propped up against a dead orc.
Fili moves as fast as he can to where Aragorn is kneeling on the ground. The man is quickly seeing to the dwarf's wounded shoulder, which has a spear sticking into it.
"Frerin." Fili gasps out as he lands on his knees next to Frerin's outstretched legs.
"Cousin." Frerin gasps out in exhaustion. "How is Adad? We got separated when the Oliphant charge by us."
Fili doesn't say a word in response to Frerin's question, and the young dwarf knows now that the screaming he heard earlier was from his Amad.
"He's dead, isn't he." Frerin says softly as his eyes begin to fill with tears. "I tried hard not to leave him behind, and I even tried to protect him after he told me to leave him."
"It isn't your fault, Master Frerin." Aragorn says to the distraught dwarf, trying to comfort the lad. "So you mustn't blame yourself."
"Aragorn is right." Gandalf says as he now arrives. "Thorin died in battle, doing what he knew to be right. Now I suggest we get you well enough to move you, Master Frerin, so that the healers can remove that spear without causing any more damage to you."
Frerin nods his head in agreement with Gandalf before allowing Fili and Aragorn to help him up. Legolas arrives just in time to help Aragorn carry Frerin towards Minas Tirith. This leaves Gandalf and Fili, following close behind them.
As they make their way towards the white city, Fili notices that many of the men, who are uninjured, are carrying Thorin's dead on a palate towards the city. This surprises him, for never before has Fili witnessed those of another race treat the dead of another race with such respect.
Gandalf notices to where Fili's attention is now drawn and lets a small, sad smile grace his face.
"Even though Thorin was a Dwarven King and excellent fighter, the Men of Rohan respect his courage upon the battlefield. That is why they are taking Thorin's body to the Healing Rooms of Minas Tirith. They wish to show the dwarves that they respect their fallen, former King of Erebor. As they have already done so to their own fallen king, Théoden."
The two remain silent as they stop walking to allow the Men of Rohan to pass them, carrying the dead body of Thorin into the city of Minas Tirith.
I warned you all to have your tissues ready for this chapter. So was I right? Did I make any of you cry? Hopefully some of you won't be too made at me for messing around with Théoden's death. I found it a bit, lackluster, in the movies. So I thought, maybe I should do something different, especially when you have to take into account that things might have been different if certain people were in certain places. As for how Théoden actually died, I will be having it talked about in the next chapter.
Reviews are cherished and welcomed.
Selene
