Hello all! So, this is my super-powerful emotional chapter! I've been thinking hard about the plot in this story's future, and as of yet, it's looking like a MINIMUM fifteen chapters. Wish me luck with that...

Rated-T

Warnings

Abuse/torture

Some OOC-ness maybe

I might not get all of their talking entirely accurate so please bear with me

Things you need to know

"Lydia/other Ereborians speaking in Khuzdul"

Disclaimer-I don't own the Hobbit or How To Train Your Dragon.

Here We Stand United

Chapter 8

"The meeting of The Company of Thorin Oakenshield come to order," Balin stated, and then withdrew a gavel and hit it upon the table a few times. Everyone took a seat around the large rectangular table in the Viking's main hall. Thorin sat at one end, Bilba sat at the other. Dwalin sat next to Thorin, Balin on Thorin's other side, Bofur next to Balin, Nori next to Bofur, then Dori who looked far too weak to be up, Ori, Frodo, back to Bilba, then on Bilba's other side was Lydia, Fili and Kili, Gloin, Oin, Bifur, Bombur, then back to Dwalin. No Vikings were present, and Stoic had assured them that no one would intrude, which was why they felt safe enough to use Norse and Westron, for now.

It had been a few days since their arrival on the Isle of Berk, and they had waited a full two days for Dori to wake up. It was another full day before Oin said Dori could get up to attend the meeting. While it had been a good chance for Ori to learn the culture and document it, and the rest of them had brushed up on their Norse, made a few friends, and had been well-fed, Lydia was itching to go. It was with no small amount of relief that she had taken her seat next to her Mam for the meeting.

"We are here to discuss the events of these past two weeks. It has been proven that, while our pirate ship is relatively safe, it is not ideal, especially with young Gimli still aboard. He could be washed out to sea the way Lydia was and never be found. That aside, these Outcasts are now a serious threat. It has already been proved they are ruthless and have the means to hold even the strongest of us," Thorin began with a nod to Dori. Dori did not acknowledge that the King was even talking about him, dutifully staring at his hands as though ashamed he had been captured, even though no one blamed him for a simple mistake (that was quite honestly to be pinned on Nori).

"What's worse, he now has a map. To Erebor. While normally this is no cause for alarm as Smaug would destroy them, there is evidence that they will be able to 'train' Smaug. Or at least, make a sort of deal." This caused a murmur to travel through the group, everyone distressed by this news. With Smaug on their side, they would be able to devastate the land and seize control of everything, not to mention their mountains of gold buried deep within Erebor. Thorin held up his hand and everyone fell silent.

Not for very long, though. "What are yeh suggesting, Thorin?" Oin finally asked, breaking the silence. His brother nodded alongside him, eager to hear the answer. The King in Exile glanced at the faces of all his friends and subjects, their eyes alight with curiosity, and he took a deep breath before replying,

"I suggest we return to reclaim Erebor and kill Smaug before the Outcasts even get there." A roar went up throughout the room, and soon all the Ereborians were shouting at Thorin, a few in disagreement, while others were eagerly agreeing and demanding to know why they hadn't left already. Dwalin bellowed for silence, to no avail. Finally, Lydia stood up.

"Enough! Mahal damn it, one at a time!" she shrieked over their caterwauling. The other Ereborians gradually fell to a dull murmur, and then Lydia continued, "I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm tired of living on the ocean, always moving, not belonging anywhere! I want to go home, and no blasted dragon is going to stand in my way!"

"Lydia's right..." Bifur managed to say, but then fell silent again, trailing off as his mind wandered. Lydia nodded in appreciation of his support, but she needn't have bothered. Even though he was trying so hard, he just couldn't concentrate very well, especially when he was required to sit down and think of one certain topic for an extended period of time. Bombur took up his cousin's thought.

"What Bif' is getting at is that we need to head home, because it's our home, and we're not gonna let anyone keep it. Besides, what have we got to lose? If these people somehow can work with Smaug all our lives are forfeit...That is, if Smaug is still alive in there," he added at the end after thinking for a moment.

"You can bet that beast is still alive in there. Dragons live for centuries, Bombur, and we all know how they hoard their gold. Surely a dragon would die before it abandoned its gold. So we could sit and wait, but if we did, it is very likely no human would return to Erebor for many centuries. If only we hadn't stocked up so much," Frodo said quietly with a small frown and a shake of his head.

"Assume for a moment we all do go on this venture, madness that it is. The entrance to the mountain is sealed. We cannot get in, nor can our enemy," Balin said. He was always the voice of reason, and many of the Ereborians were nodding in agreement with him because he spoke the truth. Since the entrance was blocked surely they could afford to let these Outcasts go there, since they would be unable to get to the dragon and the gold. That way, they could also let Smaug rot in there before they went in to reclaim it as their own.

"Alvin the Treacherous has a breed of dragon called the Whispering Death! They are known for tunneling underground! He could just have those tunnel the lot of them into the heart of our mountain!" Lydia exploded. Hiccup had told her that Alvin had that particular breed under his thumb, and Fishlegs had given her the information on them. It was very alarming.

"That, and I wouldn't say we are entirely locked out of the mountain," Bofur spoke up for the first time, rather hesitantly at that. Then, she pulled her hat from her head and withdrew a small paper from an inside pocket on the hat. Carefully, she unfolded said paper and spread it out gently on the table in front of herself. Everyone peered to get a look at the map, except Lydia; she had seen it before. It was a close-up map of the Lonely Mountain. The map was dotted with trees and Khuzdul runes in Bofur's shaky hand. At the base of the mountain was a crude drawing of a door, a key, and a big question mark.

"When I brought Lydia out of the mountain eleven years ago, the main entrance had already collapsed. So, despite how suicidal it seemed, I backtracked into the mountain, avoiding Smaug, mind you, and when I came across this one tunnel that sloped up, I figured I might as well follow it. Well, it led to a door at the end which I pushed open, and behold, daylight! I left the door open, and we spent a night in that area. Instead of sleeping, I mapped it all. When I closed the door and we started to leave, I realized I'd dropped one of my knives. I tried to get back in, but that was when I realized that, while you could leave, you couldn't enter without a key...I...don't have the key," Bofur admitted softly, and her hand came up to twirl one of her braids between her fingers as she avoided making eye contact with anyone else.

"I think I do," Thorin said, and then from one of his many side pockets, produced a key as he said, "It's been in the family for generations. Never could figure out what is was for," he admitted wryly as he held the iron key up for everyone to see.

"We can get in," Kili marveled, and he and Fili grinned. Their eyes were shining with the prospect of adventure, revenge, and the return to Erebor.

Balin cleared his throat, "In light of these new revelations, and after weighing all the pros and cons, we will now take a vote. All in favor of returning to Erebor?" Lydia, Bofur, Fili, Kili, Bombur, Bifur, Thorin, Dori, Nori, Ori, and Frodo all raised their hands. Balin nodded as he counted and then gestured for them to put their hands down. "All opposed?" Everyone else- Dwalin, Balin, Oin, Gloin, and surprisingly Bilba- raised their hands. The last five were clearly outvoted, and Balin conceded, "Very well. Erebor it is." There was a smattering of cheers at his statement, mainly from Fili and Kili, and just as everyone began to rise from their seats to leave Thorin, Balin, and Dwalin to discuss strategies, Lydia ordered them back to their seats.

"The Company of Thorin Oakenshield will now discuss the matter of The Vikings." Thorin nodded to his daughter to continue since he apparently approved, so she went on, "The Vikings have already offered to help in whatever way possible. I propose we take some of them with us to Erebor to take care of The Outcasts and Smaug." Dead silence fell, as though no one could believe she had just said that. All that could be heard was Dori's unsteady breathing. None of the others seemed to take a breath or make a move. All were looking at Thorin, as though expecting him to shoot the idea down immediately. He made no move to do so.

"Elaborate," Balin commanded, and many others nodded in agreement.

Lydia took a deep breath and continued, "Hiccup and his friends train dragons. That's the reason Alvin had him and his friends locked up. He wanted to know how it was possible. Now he knows, and he's going after Smaug. They all feel guilty, and want to help. Stoic the Vast already offered a few war troops, as well. We would be fools not to take advantage of the extra strength in our numbers."

"How do we know we can trust them?" Dwalin demanded, voicing the question that was on everyone's minds. If they had so much power over these dragons, couldn't they turn on the Ereborians as soon as they had defeated Alvin and take their gold from them?

"I can vouch for them," Dori spoke up quietly, and all turned to look at him. He met everyone's gaze unflinchingly. "I was locked up with them. They showed nothing but kindness towards me. They tried to help me, tried to prevent them from poisoning me...they are good people, if a little strange."

Bilba seemed to be in agreement, "Can we not give them the benefit of the doubt? I stand with Dori and Lydia on this."

All hell broke loose.

*THIS IS A PAGE BREAK*

"What do you think they're talking about in there?" Astrid wondered aloud. She stood outside the doors to the Great Hall with the other dragon trainers. They were waiting for the Ereborians to finish the meeting so everyone could go inside and eat. All other Vikings had grown bored and wandered off. Only the dragon trainers remained, still optimistic the Ereborians would be done soon, despite the small amount of roaring they had heard before.

"If you really wanna know, follow us," Ruffnut said, and then her and Tuffnut disappeared around the side of the building. With a shrug, the rest followed, and watched in awe as Ruff and Tuff scrambled up the sides of the building, gripping spikes that jutted out that none of them had noticed before. Astrid and Snotlout followed. Fishlegs downright refused, but Hiccup was going to follow, but Fishlegs grabbed his arm and hissed,

"I talked to their little scribe, Ori. He wrote a book about this lot; it's kind of his job. All evidence in that book suggests we can't trust them and therefore this is a very bad idea because if they catch us eavesdropping..."

"Relax, Fishlegs. You're being paranoid," Hiccup replied, and then with great difficulty, he followed the twins, Snotlout, and Astrid. At the roof, there was a hole they all slid into where they could perch on the rafters unnoticed. They got there just as the room exploded into sound. It was impossible to know who said what.

"Great now it's assured-"

"I cannot hear yeh, laddie! Speak up!"

"This is your fault in the first place, you've no opinion-!"

"You can't talk to Dori like that! Only I can! I'll rip your beard out!"

Incoherent babble from Bifur.

"I've got rights-"

"It's insane, you're insane!"

"Say that to my face, piece of shit!"

"Can't we all just be civil?"

"Dwalin, sit down!"

"Fili, Kili, I swear to Mahal, if you don't take that back-"

"I believe sweet little Ori is looking for a fight, don't-?"

"I completely agree, Kili. Let's teach-"

"Now see here! I may be recovering but I'm still-!"

Through it all, Frodo was reading, Bombur was eating and looking confused, his only interjection having been the first sentence, and Thorin looked ready to blow his top. Fili and Kili had leapt on top of the table, ready to fight little Ori, Nori was ready to fly at Oin and Gloin, Bifur was in a heated argument with Dwalin, who was on his feet, screaming at Bifur and Bofur both, Bilba and Balin were both trying to keep the peace, Dori was trying to sit Ori back down, and Lydia was nearly incoherent with rage. Finally, Thorin had had enough.

"Atkât!" With his roar, the Ereborians were immediately back in their seats, their expressions sheepish as Thorin went on the lecture them in that strange, growl-like language from before. It was a long speech, and slowly but surely, the others relaxed from their battle-ready positions and nodded along in agreement.

Finally, the old advisor, Balin, cleared his throat and said in Norse, "All in favor of asking for the Viking's assistance?" Lydia, Bilba, Dori, Nori, Ori, Bofur, and Frodo all raised their hands, though hesitantly on Bofur's part. Balin nodded for them to put their hands down and asked, "All opposed?" Oin, Gloin, Fili, Dwalin, Balin, Bombur, and Kili all raised their hands. Balin frowned and gestured for them to put their hands down and looked to the two who had not voted. Bifur was staring off into the distance and very likely hadn't even heard the question. Thorin's gaze was narrowed, and he looked like he had no intention of voting. Bombur gently nudged his cousin and explained the question to him patiently. Bifur blinked a few times, and then signed something to Balin that had him nodding in defeat. Finally, he turned to Thorin.

"What'll it be, laddie?" Thorin paused, and then stood, looking at each and every person before he spoke.

"You are all my friends, my family. I could not have asked for a group of better men...and women. Your loyalty is worth more to me than all the gold in Erebor. However, that gold, is rightfully yours, too. We will go to Erebor...and we will ask the Vikings to accompany us."

The Viking teens pulled back, shock on all their faces. However, they dared not speak, for fear of being discovered. They sat there for a few minutes, listening for more talking. When none came, they dared to peek over the rafters again. All the Ereborians had spread out around the room. Thorin was at the fireplace, smoking his pipe. Dwalin and Bofur still sat at the table, glaring across it at each other. Frodo and Bilba stood near Thorin, Bilba clinging to her son and watching as Lydia paced like a caged dragon. Dori was leaning against a wall, while Nori and Ori hovered nearby worriedly. Balin, Fili and Kili also stood near Thorin. Bifur stood alone, smoking, Bombur had brought forth food from one of his pockets as he drifted around the room and ate. Oin and Gloin stood together, watching everyone else warily.

Slowly, a low humming filled the room, rising in volume, until Thorin started to sing. His voice was deep and beautiful, but it was in that language none of them could understand. He sang a verse as his wife and son stepped into his space beside him and joined in on the second verse. Lydia froze in her pacing, watching everyone warily. Dwalin and Bofur's glares softened as they both joined in on a third verse. Fili and Kili joined in the fourth, and then it was just Thorin, Frodo, Fili, and Kili singing the fifth verse for a moment. When the sixth came along, everyone joined in, their voices blending in perfectly together. The song grew in volume as their voices carried into the seventh and eighth verses, reaching the loudest point, but it still remained slow and mournful. They knew enough to know that the song was weaving a beautiful story from their shared past. Though they could not understand the words, the song sent shivers down their spines. There was so much power behind the song that it moved them. The Ereborians felt very strongly about what they were singing.

Finally, all the others fell silent, and then Lydia's voice carried over it all on the ninth and final verse, clear and pure, and when the last word left her mouth, they remained silent as the song rang through the grand room. The Viking teens knew this was a private moment of sorrow and remembrance, and they should not have listened in on it. In silent agreement, they all slid quietly out the rafters, sliding down the roof and onto the ground, moving off towards the Dragon Training Academy to discuss what they'd heard.

This was the chapter I've been building towards. I loved writing this one, with all the power and plot it had...I'm VERY proud of it. Obviously, I can't put the lyrics in here it's against the FF guidelines. Shame. I was singing the nine verses I picked from the original even as I wrote this. PM me if you wanna know the verses I used.

(Geez, longer chapters every time! This is turning into a monster-sized fic.)

Review please.