I'm very at war with myself, friends. I had planned on keeping this story rather 50/50- some following the book, some following the movie...
Since Smaug arrives in this chapter, I planned on introducing older Balin since, ya know, he shows up in the movie...
Balin was born in 2763 T.A.
Smaug overtook Erabor in 2770 T.A.
Balin was seven.
This is a problem... Oh Peter... why do you give us such amazing scenes in the movie that aren't possible? Could you stop? Kthnxbye.
*Sigh*
Alright, Tolkien. I'll follow your lead this time.
*Daggers at Jackson*
~T.P.T.
Smile Like You Mean It
The Tragic Tale of Dis
Chapter Three;; Here With Me
This day was different from the second I awoke. The trees along Erabor creaked as though a great weight had fallen upon them. The air was thick with anticipation, though I knew not why. A shiver worked its' way down my neck as I pulled the covers up to my already slightly stubbly chin. The sun was in the sky, but some unseen omen was keeping me safe under the covers.
I sat there like that for a good long while, not thinking of anything particular. Even if I had gotten up, there'd be nothing to do. Thorin and Frerin were already twenty four and nineteen, respectfully, and had long given up on taking me with them to train. I was only ten and couldn't battle nearly as well as they could, and mother would only scold me if I bothered them.
My eyes felt heavy as I began to drift back to sleep, burying myself deeper into the cushions. Despite getting plenty of sleep the night before, my bed was far too welcoming to resist.
I don't know how long I slept after that- it could have been a few minutes or even a couple of hours, but the resonating echo of a familiar voice pulled me out of my slumber.
"Dragon!"
I sat up almost instantly, all traces of exhaustion gone. My heart began to pound with an unknown fear, I could hear the blood pumping in my ears. Every Dwarf, old and young, knew what that call meant. But I sat there dumb founded, too shocked to know what to do.
A roar reverberated through my bones and shook all of Erabor, down to its' roots.
With a whimper, I jumped from my bed and raced across my room, my bare feet slapping along the stone floor. I grabbed a small jacket and threw it over my nightdress as I hastened out of the door.
Dwarves of all shapes and sizes ran to and fro, grabbing their possessions, making sure their friends and family were out or escaping. From where the mass of Dwarves was heading, it looked like the front gate was still in tact.
I didn't wait one second as I hurried down the polished steps, stubbing my toes on the backs of boots and nearly falling flat on my face. Unfortunately, by the time I made it to the bottom of the steps, the flow had all but stopped, and hundreds of taller bodies, both from behind and in front, shoved me around like a small fish in a ferocious river. I wasn't able to move forward- no one was -so we all stood there, anxiously waiting, talking quietly to loved ones, fidgeting with jewelry.
My body went rigid as I felt at my neck.
I'd forgotten it.
In a whirl I sprang around, pushing at coats and skirts that blocked my path as I raced back up the steps. I winced painfully as I fell out of the throng of Dwarves, my shins meeting the sharp angle of the steps. After a quick pat on my shins to subdue the throbbing, I hobbled painfully up the remaining black marbled steps and back down the hall toward my room. I hadn't bothered closing the door on my way out, so I quickly made it in, grabbed the necklace that sat on my bedside table and was out in mere seconds. With a nagging feeling hanging on my conscious, I hurried into Frerin's room and then Thorin's to make sure they'd both escaped.
"Idiot." I mumbled as I rushed out of Thorin's bedroom. It had been his voice that awoke me, of course he wasn't in his room.
As I hurried down the hall yet again, I fastened the gold and pearl necklace around my neck, a few long black hairs getting caught in the hook. I yanked them out, hardly concerned with them as I rushed back down the stairs. The entire place was deserted, along with the Arkenstone that had previously rested atop my grandfather's throne. Hope surged through me as I realized my grandfather might be alive.
When at last I reached the last corridor leading to the front gate, I picked up my pace, running at full speed to freedom- to my mother, father, grandfather and brothers who were all waiting for me -despite the growing ache in my shins.
A looming shadow fell across the entire front gate, making my gut wrench in fear. The shadow only lasted for a seconds before it was replaced with a bright orange glow that was quickly approaching me.
The hot wind was knocked out of my lungs as something, or someone, hit me from the side. We crashed behind one of the tall pillars, the wall of fire barely missing us.
A large steady hand was placed over my mouth as a scream worked it's way up and out of my throat, completely against my will. As the tears of pain streamed down my cheeks and to his hand, I realized we hadn't made it out of the way of the flames, or at least the right sleeve of my jacket hadn't, and it was burning brightly, searing my whole upper arm in white pain. Whimpers accompanied the scream as whomever had saved me began to beat the flame out with his own jacket.
My head rolled from the pain, hardly able to keep conscious. I stared up at my savior as he removed his hand from my mouth. It was Thorin. My dark haired brother was already covered in ash, and his clothes looked no better than mine.
It was in that brief moment before I drifted into darkness that I noticed my brother, the rock of our family, the warrior, was crying. I could see him speaking, he was saying something to me I couldn't understand. No, I couldn't hear. He began to shake me rather violently, and as hard as I tried to keep my eyes open, they shut.
A scream rang from my throat, making my head pound in the process. I didn't dare open my eyes as I laid there. My back was against something hard, and I think I was laying down. The back of my throat was dry, and it felt as though I'd swallowed glass. The upper right side of my body felt inflamed, but a cold sweat sat on my brow. I couldn't move, my body ached. My shins stung still. Is this what it felt like to be dead?
I opened my blue eyes tentatively, awaiting the flames of the dragon or worse, but was pleasantly surprised to find a couple of kind blue-green eyes and a scruffy reddish beard.
"Frerin!" I cried, tears at once streaming down to tickle my ears. I tried to sit up, but a fiery pain shot through my body before I could, "Frerin, save me, the dragon-!"
"You're alright, Dissie." The my older brother said softly, holding his hand against my uninjured shoulder to keep me down, "You're safe."
I laid there silently, glancing around as I tried to asses where I was. This was difficult seeing as there wasn't anything around- mountains, a river, hard stone which we both sat on and hundreds of Dwarves. I could see them for miles. As I searched for familiar faces, I noticed there were also men and women whom I guessed were from the city of Dale.
The dragon must have destroyed it all.
I shifted uncomfortably as I tried to look around. Erabor was far away. Further than I had ever ventured from the mountain.
A spike of pain in my right shoulder stopped my look around. It was then I remember my injury.
Slowly, I rolled my eyes to glance down at my shoulder. Bile rose in my throat as I stared down at my bloodied appendage. Burns littered it from mid-forearm all the way up to my shoulder. I gagged and quickly looked away to keep from emptying my stomach. Fortunately it was already empty.
"Frerin." My voice and body shook. It was cold out despite my growing temperature, and both my arms, shoulders, neck an collar bone were uncovered- the rest was covered by my underwear and singed jacket, "How long have I been... out?"
"A couple of days." He sniffed, wiping his sleeve across his eyes and nose- they both watered, "Thorin and I have been moving you on this stretcher."
Sure enough, I was on top of a thick piece of fabric between two long poles.
"And where are we going?" I winced as Frerin applied a balm to my arm- he must have been dressing my wound while I was unconscious.
"To Uncle Grór in the Iron Hills." Frerin's eyes still watered and although I could tell he was trying to hold it in, his voice quavered.
"Frerin?" I asked softly, wiping away a couple of his tears with my left thumb. My brother quickly batted my hand away, finished wrapping my arm in a bandage and stomped off, viciously rubbing at his eyes.
After a few moments, I grabbed the dirty cloak my brother had left at my side and slowly sat up.
My head swam, my eyes lost focus. I leaned my head down between my knees to keep from falling over. When I could see clearly once again, I wrapped the cloak around my torso and good shoulder.
I looked round once more, seeing small families huddled together, holding each other close. Not far off I could see one of the young Dwarflings I often played with- his name was Balin and it looked like both his mother and father escaped unharmed.
Fear struck my heart as I looked for my own family. Frerin looked fine, and he had mentioned Thorin, but where were my mother, father and grandfather? I touched the necklace at the base of my neck for comfort.
'Keep them safe, grandmother.'
"Thorin, don't. Thorin!" Frerin's voice pulled me back to the real world. I spotted both Thorin and Frerin making their was hastily towards me. Frerin looked concerned but Thorin... I had never seen his face more livid.
"What have you done?!" He roared, grabbing my injured arm once he was in range and yanking me up to my feet with one arm. I cried out as searing pain raced up my shoulder, but I didn't resist. Tears threatened to spill once more as I held the cloak tightly with my good hand. With blurry eyes, I stared my brother, balancing precariously on my toes as Thorin held me up, "Why did you go back?"
"G-go back?" I choked, momentarily confused.
"I saw you go back upstairs!" He insisted, his voice growing louder with each word. He squeezed my shoulder and I let out another yelp of pain, "Why?"
"I couldn't-" I gasped, trying to find the words, the breath. My head was extremely light again, "I couldn't leave... grandmother behind."
The index finger of my good hand brushed at the pearls around my neck.
A sickening laugh escaped my brothers lips as he let me fall back to the stone with a grunt, my shins crying out as they landed on the edge of my brothers boots.
"You sacrificed the life of our mother for our grandmothers necklace?"
Those words fell on my ears and the world stopped. All talking, all gasps of shock from on lookers, everything. I couldn't breathe.
I held the pain and tears back, shaking my head back and forth.
My brother was lying.
I stared up into his icy blue eyes that refused to shed a tear. I never took my eyes from his as he knelt down and roughly grabbed my chin. He began to speak, but like before, I could only see his mouth move. My stomach clenched, my vision faded in and out, I lost all words that poured from my brothers mouth, my lungs screamed for air.
"-Do you hear me? We both saw you turn around and run up the stairs. Shewent looking for you! I found you, but she? She didn't make it!" I caught the last of his words as I finally took in a deep breath, only to let it back out with a scream. My body convulsed as I tried to stand, to run back and find her, but my brothers' firm grip held me anchored to the spot.
"Thorin, let me go!" I cried, hot tears dripping from my chin to the stone, "I have to get her, I have to bring her back! Mother!" I lost my breath and began to mouth the words, struggling against my brothers' strength.
"She's not coming back!" His hand left my chin and once again wrapped around my injured arm, squeezing till my throat ached from the screaming.
I don't know how long it took, but Frerin and another boy his age finally pried my brother off of me and held him back long enough for him to lose interest and grumble off.
I fell back, unable to hold myself up any longer. Instead of stone, my head found a soft lap to lay on. I stared up into the eyes of a foreign Dwarf. She was very pretty with blonde hair, hazel eyes and a small smile.
"It's alright, Dis. We'll keep you company. That boy-" She glanced up to the young boy who had helped get Thorin away from me- he too was blonde with brown eyes- "is my brother, Airili, and my name is Jutta. We'll watch over you."
Tears seeped into her beautiful magenta skirt as I buried my head in her lap, on the verge of falling unconscious.
"Jutta..." I whispered to her, "Just like my mothers name-" Another wave of hot tears appeared "-Uta."
Wheels are turning
I remember when you were mine
Now just to reach you
Baby, I'd stand in line
Don't want your picture
On my cell phone
I want you here with me
I don't want your memory
In my head now
I want you here with me
Well... I hope that was worth the wait...
Comments and critique greatly wanted!
And remember... All credit goes to Tolkien for the wonderful characters, Jackson for the incredible visuals and The Killers for the fantastic songs!
~T.P.T.
