Old Wars Craft New Warriors

-February 25, 3019-

Odin watched the cloudy sky, his mind wandering off into the very heavens that he watched. The days were becoming short as the threat of the East loomed overhead. The prince had become accustomed to the sound of a hammer upon metal and the sound of the Queen Dragon that lay in his halls. The smell of smoke was nothing new to him anymore, or the sound of his mother's crumbling health. Yes, he knew. He knew from the look his father gave her when she faced away from him; he knew from the looks of concern or grief given by lesser people. He silently was dreading every moment his mother coughed or the moments when she would turn blank. Her smiles were forced, her touch cold like the ice that formed on the slopes of Erebor in winter. His mother was a strong woman, but behind all of the smoke and mirrors she was fragile.

Each time he heard his mother and father, he would cast away these encumbering ideas to show them he was not worried in the slightest. Mindlessly, he played with the frayed leather on the pommel of his sword. Nothing was calming him down anymore, not even sparring with the twins or his cousins. He leaned against the mountain's edge, hoping by some stroke of luck all of this madness would end and everything would revert to the old ways. He was there in Rivendell when Frodo proclaimed he would venture to Mordor with the Ring. The boy didn't even know what he was getting himself into for pity sake. He would be surprised if Frodo even came back; the lad had his heart in the right place and Odin had become friends with the hobbit. Had Gimli not decided to go, he would have gladly gone with the hobbit. That small creature unleashed a beast no one in Middle Earth could contain, not even the Valar. Frodo had cut the chain that held wrath and war allowing them to crash down upon all races.

"Damn it," Odin muttered, shutting his eyes tightly. Frodo was a fool, a brave one but still a fool. He hoped that the little creature would be safe. He heard a low rumble above him, and he opened one eye to see Freya's great amber eyes staring at him curiously. Against his palm, he felt a cold nose and he looked over to see Fenrir standing before him, his dark grey fur up to his shoulders covered in thick cakey snow. The prince scratched the ears of his hound, trying to ignore the dragon above him. He stood, feeling his muscles wake up from their cold induced dormancy. "What is it, Freya?"

The dragoness smiled, revealing the tip of one pearly tooth. She snaked her head back inside and Odin shook his head, taking a hold of Fenrir's collar before walking back inside. The long lanky legs of Fenrir moved in time with the prince's steps as they passed the tail tip of Freya. It seemed everywhere one desired to walk a part of her was in the way. Odin released Fenrir's collar, but the hound did not depart his master's side. He had remembered Maugrim, the hound that had chosen his father over all others. That hound was a great beast, full of pride and strength. Maugrim had lived longer than Nyx, and died on a hunt; he died doing what he loved most. Odin hoped that Fenrir would do the same.

"There's the princeling," A voice jeered. A rough, gravelly voice that belonged to Tyr. Odin flicked his gaze back to the younger twin, who was mirroring his father with his hands upon the end of a great war hammer and he was dressed in heavy steel armor that clanked when he so much as moved. A great difference from the swift and stealthy Balder. "We've been looking for you."

"Tyr now is not a good time," Odin replied flatly. Tyr arched one eyebrow and eyed him. The warrior swung his hammer onto his back, and leapt down, appearing like a great bear had leapt down from its cave to challenge an enemy. Tyr poked his shoulder and Odin sighed, annoyed. "Why are you bothering me?"

"I am not bothering you, Odin. Your cousins are looking for you and said something involving sparring," Tyr stated simply. "Balder is annoying me and I want to escape him while he's talking to some girl."

Odin wanted to point out that Balder annoyed Tyr no matter the occasion. He gave Tyr a nod, motioning for him to follow him. He whistled for Fenrir to search for his cousins and the hound leapt forward, running up the steps and he barked in the deep sonorous voice that could rattled someone's chest cavity. Kili appeared out of the shadows the formed behind the main door with his hand rubbing Fenrir's head.

"There you are," Kili smiled. "Fili and I have been searching high and low for you. Where'd you run off to?"

"Had to clear my head," Odin replied. "What do you need me for?"

Kili walked up to his cousin, gripping his shoulders tightly. Odin had often questioned what went on in Kili's head, for he was not as thought dependant as Fili. No, Kili acted on a whim but could piece together a strategy in a matter of seconds. Now, was one of the famous Kili-is-thinking moments as Fili rightfully named them.

"We need you to come spar against Freya," Kili stated. Odin's heart stopped and he started to pull away from Kili, but his cousin yanked on his arm toward the lower levels where the dragoness slept. Tyr smirked and waved at Odin innocently. He mouthed a curse at Tyr, who rolled his eyes. The broad steel gates of Freya's chambers stood open revealing the mighty dragoness standing with Thorin at her feet. Odin and Kili stopped for a moment, watching the king intently. In Thorin's hand rested Orcrist, unsheathed and flickering in the dim light like a elegant spire of silver and white. The dragoness' tail flicked back and forth before she sprung forward, one blood red paw attempting to slash the king. To another dragon, these swipes were like being batted with a feather, but to someone so small they could knock them into a pillar or a wall, possibly breaking it. Thorin raised Orcrist, nicking the dragoness' paw as she tried to squish him like a fly. Freya used her tail like a whip, grabbing the king and tossing him aside where her mighty paw hovered above him creating a cage.

"Caught like a bear in a trap, little king," Freya laughed as Thorin stood. He tapped her talon telling her to remove them. He gave her an incline of his head. "I will take that as best two out of three, Thorin."

"You are far bigger than me, Great One," Thorin stated. "I am surprised you did not squish me."

"Tempting," Freya teased as she circled around to see into the doorway. Odin was indeed surprised that Freya had not taken the chance to flatten his father. The dragon and king did not have the easiest past, but Odin saw that they at least got along now. The amber eyes of the dragoness landed on him and he shrunk away. "There is the Little Prince; we have been searching for you."

Odin and Kili entered the cavernous room and saw the Freya appeared quite small in this room. It was lit by a dim torchlight that casted great looming shadows upon the walls that almost appeared like dancing phantoms that wavered when Freya's great horse head passed nearby. Oddly, the walls were pitch black with a few rocks remaining steely grey. The dragoness had most likely burned them when she would use her fire. In the corner, sat his mother with Cairn beside her. The small raven was being subjected to his queen pulling feathers from him to use to make arrows.

"So I've heard," Odin replied casting a small glare back at Kili, who was intently watching Coruwen create her arrows. "What is it you need, Freya?"

"I desire to test your steel against my claws, little one. If you truly are the son of the Oakenshield then you will fight me without a scratch."

Odin's stomach twisted painfully, but he nodded to her. The dragoness gave him a wolfish grin before her raised talons swiped at him. He did not have a moment's notice before her talons scraped the ground sending out an ear piercing scream that made him flinch. He unsheathed his blade knocking aside her talons that tried to cut him. When her left paw smashed into the stone floor, he raised his blade cutting her paw making her withdraw it and knock him aside like he was nothing. The wind escaped his lungs and took a gulp of air trying to regain his footing as Freya bounded up to him. The ferocity in her eyes would have made most cower in fear, and for a moment he wanted to hide from her fiery gaze. The dragoness' head came down to his level with her teeth flashing once before they stopped around him, but no pain came. She had halted her jaws. Freya's breath was hot against his skin as she panted and she raised her head, closing her maw.

"Good until you fled. Had I not been careful, you would have looked like a pin cushion, and moreover, dead," Freya pointed out. "When fighting things bigger than you, you must aim high; typically the neck or behind the jaw where the Life Vein runs. This is the bane of all beasts, including Fell Beasts."

"The mount of the Nazgûl…" Odin whispered, he could hear his heart beating loudly in his ears as the adrenaline coursed through him like fire catches dry grass. He rested the tip of his blade in a crack that Freya had made in the stone. "Why are you teaching me this?"

Freya chuckled. "Think about it while I fight you again, little prince. If you want someone who could easily take down a Nazgûl mount. Fili would be the best at showing you how to aim one's blade at the Life Vein."

Odin glanced over at Fili, and then back at Freya. "I'll give it another shot," He told her and the dragoness spoke a word he did not know of, but she sounded pleased. He took up his blade once more, watching Freya closely. He watched the flicking tail, the talons that held up her great, lengthy body, and finally her head and neck that stood still as if waiting. She was being patient.

"A good warrior is patient, and never strikes first unless provoked," Odin could hear his father's old teachings in his head that never made a lick of sense; until now. It now made sense, for Freya was a warrior but instead of blades or arrows, she used tooth and flame. "All warriors learn from their kindred. A pup learns from a wolf, but is aided by nature. You will learn from me, but it is how you wield the things I teach you and your disposition that decides the fight."

Odin's mind snapped back into place when he heard Freya's tail whip the air making him flinch. The dragoness' talons flashed, nicking the front of his blade and his grip slipped a bit. His hands clawed for his sword and ended up gripping the blade that slid through his hand. Red dripped from his palm and he tightened his hand into a fist. In between Freya's front paws was his sword, he mentally cursed himself from letting his grip slip. He glanced up at Freya, who was standing still for him, but her tail's tip flicked back and forth. She was thinking…. He needed his sword, and he needed it before she got done thinking. Without a second thought, he ran for his sword but heard Freya growl with her claws attempting to grab him in her clutches. When his slick fingers grabbed the sword, he felt a tug on the back of his shirt.

All of a sudden, he was up in the air, looking at Freya. Her lips were curled back into a snarl with wisps of smoke escaping the gaps in her teeth. Odin hung limply in her clutches until her nose came up to him, huffing the scent of smoke across him. He held his breath and kicked her nose making her jerk back in pain. It was a long fall to the ground and he landed on his side. Pain shot down his back and left side as he rolled onto his feet, but found he had no balance and fell back.

"Odin!" Fili shouted. Odin could surely hear the people around him, but could only see blurs. That; was not one of his finest moments. His vision was slowly being taken over a creeping darkness that ever so slowly took him.

"I think he gave himself a concussion," Fili stated as looked his cousin over. He heard his aunt's boot heels upon the stone and turned back to see her walking towards him. He could only watch as Coruwen stroked Odin's face whispering to him to come back. Fili looked up at Freya, who was rubbing the tip of her nose with the back of her paw and slightly closing one eye. He admitted it; this was not one of the best ideas Odin has come up with rivaling one of Kili's ideas to climb in a tree and then proceed to fall onto the ground and break his arm in three different places. Coruwen sat back on her heels, and then called for Kili. His brother came bounding up and took the orders from their aunt. "What'd he do?"

"Gave himself a minor head injury, nothing was done to the brain luckily," Coruwen said quietly. She looked up at Freya, who was lying on the ground, front paws crossed and tail wrapped around her haunches. "Do not hold him up so high next time. I know we are trying to teach him some things, but Fell Beasts are not that tall."

"I am terribly sorry, Dear One. I shall not do it again," Freya apologized, shutting her eyes. Fili knew Freya meant well, but sometimes her dragon nature peeked through all of her calmness and wisdom. He was surprised that she even admitted her mistake. "Is there any blood?"

He wondered why she would ask such a thing until Coruwen removed her hand from her son's head to reveal it as covered in dark red blood. It was the side Odin had landed on when he had fallen. He seen blood many times, but it seemed worse to see on his cousin. He sighed, watching Thorin walk up to Coruwen and place his hand upon her upper back. After a few moments of silence, Kili came back with something wrapped in a cloth and handed it to Coruwen. Kili returned to his side, and Fili nudged him a bit.

"What is that?" Fili whispered. Kili's gold eyes became dark as he watched the floor. "Kili…"

"Something to fix Odin's head, because he's an idiot for kicking Freya in the nose," Kili hissed. Fili gave him a look and his brother shrunk back. Surely, he cannot be blaming his cousin for idiotic ideas since he was the lord of such things. "He didn't mess himself up, did he?"

"No, just managed to knock himself out and cut his head a bit," Fili replied. "He was doing quite well actually."

Kili bounced on the balls of his feet, "Yeah, really well."

Fili's attention fell back on Coruwen as she stood; wiping hr hands on the remnants of the cloth, for the rest had been torn to make a wrapping for Odin's head. He was surprised that Odin hadn't broken anything or injured himself further. He saw Freya's claws slide under Odin's limp body and she cradled him in the crook of her forearms as if he were her own child. Coruwen ran a hand through her hair before returning to plucking Cairn's feathers. Fili swore that Cairn was going to a naked raven after this, and he sat at his aunt's feet, watching her pluck old feathers from the molting raven lord. In truth, he had never watched her make one her arrows before. They differed greatly from Kili's arrows, aside for one of her own that he kept in his quiver. Elven arrows were long with arrowheads of finely made steel that were sharper than dagger points, whereas Dwarven arrows were thicker and resembled crossbow bolts to a certain degree.

"You should do this more often, my queen. I quite like the fact that I don't look like a waddling black puffball," Cairn commented as Coruwen plucked two long feathers tipped with white from his neck plumage. Coruwen was intently focused on her work that she forgot all about the chattering raven that was pulling his feathers out, literally. Fili watched Kili, who had taken up archery practice a few feet away from everyone else. Fili assumed that Kili was testing how fast he could loose an arrow from his quiver, but instead his brother simply stroked the white tipped feathers of one arrow.

Why was he hesitating? Fili narrowed his eyes at his brother, watching him closely. It was then that he saw Kili's fingers hovering over one arrow where it was plucked free and loosed in a matter of seconds. Never before had he seen his brother move that quickly. He smirked and leaned back against Coruwen, feeling her hand pat his head softly. He glanced back at Cairn, who was still pulling feathers out of his wings.

"Say, Cairn have you flown over the Easterling encampments lately?" Fili asked. The raven hummed as he spat out more feathers.

"Not in a while, but I remembered them having a big group of horses and men with them," Cairn replied. "Whenever they decide to wander over here, then we will be ready."

"I'd rather have them avoid Erebor," Fili murmured as he shut his eyes, listening to the sound of Kili's arrows meet their target. He could hear the sound of Freya's heavy breathing, and the ever so faint humming of his aunt above him. Many times he had heard her sing and loved to hear her voice. Though her health had prohibited such songs from coming from her, and the disease had also taken its toll on her voice that now she was reduced to humming or singing quietly and not a sound could be made if you wanted to hear. In the halls nearby, he could hear the slight clicking of boot heels, ones that sounded oddly familiar. He shut out the sound and listened to his aunt again.

"What in the world?" Dís' voice asked mildly shocked. Fili opened his eyes, looking at his mother, who was staring up at Freya in shock. His mother had one streak of grey in long hair that she typically tried to hide, but now with it down he could see it rather prominently and it was becoming whiter. Dís glared at Thorin, who was watching her out of the corner of his eye. "Thorin, you told me she left!"

"I never said she left, dear sister. I, for one, told you that Freya would be staying down in this old room. Who ever told you that Freya was leaving was sorely mistaken," Thorin replied calmly as his fingers enclosed around Orcrist's hilt. Fili looked at Kili, who was not looking at their mother and his fingers slightly began to tremor. His brother was going to get himself into a heap of trouble. "Kili, are you all right?"

Kili glanced back at Thorin, his gold eyes showing hints of nervousness. "Yes, I'm fine," Kili said quickly as he released another arrow into the target. "Why?"

"Your hands shake when you lie," Thorin pointed out flatly. "Did you honestly believe that Freya was going to leave?"

Kili did not turn around, but lowered his hands. "I didn't want mother to worry. I know how Freya makes her worry," Kili muttered ashamed. Dís let out a small chuckle, walking over to Kili and taking his shoulders. She whispered something to him that made him nod slowly. His mother turned around and came to sit beside Coruwen.

"What happened to Odin?" She asked. Fili turned his gaze backward to his mother and leaned his head against her leg. Her hand rested on his head, softly stroking his hair that tempted his soul to sleep.

"He kicked Freya's nose, fell, and gave himself a nasty head wound. Luckily, he didn't damage his brain; we also are under the assumption that he hurt his side as well," Coruwen said gently. Dís let out a hum, still her hand passing through her old son's hair. "I do not know what possessed him to do that…"

"Simple idea. He may be like Kili and think of things on a whim rather than logic," Fili stated, his words slightly slurring together as his mother stroked his hair. He heard a scoff and he opened one eye to see Thorin tracing the Cirth runes on Orcrist's blade with his thumb. "It's a thought…"

"Odin does not think like that. What he did is called instinct," Thorin replied gruffly. "Any person would have kicked Freya too had they been held up that high, waiting to be chewed on."

"Uncle…" Fili sighed. He shut his eyes again, letting himself drift off to sleep.

Coruwen watched as Fili's breathing deepened and soon Dís removed her fingers from his hair. Much of it had come loose from its braids and fall loosely around his shoulders. Having removed the last of Cairn's molting feathers, she had crafted each of her arrows with the white tipped ones in the back and the ones with ebony veins in the front. She had long since forgotten the art of making the arrows of her kindred, but after analyzing the arrow that Kili carried; she remembered.

"He was thinking a bit irrationally, love," Coruwen pointed out as she stood, careful to not move Fili as she came to stand beside Kili. He was beginning to lose focus after Dís had arrived, and she carefully lowered his arm and he glanced back at her. She inclined her head towards the target, telling him to continue. After he returned to firing arrows into the target, she slid off her bow from her right shoulder and felt the taut string beneath her fingertips, recalling old memories of her father teaching her the ways of the bow. Over her shoulder, she saw Thorin looking at her darkly. "We all do it. He was simply defending himself like you said, but I will admit he should have done it closer to the ground."

"And not kicked me right on the soft spot on my nose," Freya put in as she opened her eyes. The great pupils of Freya expanded in the darkness making her appear like an animal catching the scent of blood. "Little Prince does not know the anatomy of a dragon yet he kicked me on the very tip of my nose." She lowered her nose to the floor, letting the cold seep through her scales.

"I am terribly sorry, Freya," Coruwen said quietly as she pulled back an arrow to the best of her ability, feeling her atrophied arm give her grief. She had not used her left arm for the means of war in a long time. Still the muscle underneath the skin felt fibrous and would not allow her to pull back her arrows as far or allow her to move that arm up over her head. Her arm trembled, and she released her breath, lowering her bow down. Kili looked up at her quizzically to which she gave the motion of her arm to him and he gave her a small look of pity. He released his last arrow and then swung his bow onto his back.

"Pull back again," Kili whispered. Coruwen pulled back on the arrow again, feeling her arm begin to tremble again. Gently, Kili's hand wrapped around her arm, helping her to pull the arrow all the way back to her cheek. His hand released her arm and she was surprised to find it still a bit shaky, but able to hold up her arrow. When her thoughts drifted away, the arrow twanged and landed dead centre of the target.

"Kili how did you-?"

Kili smirked, "Used my head." His gold eyes shined brightly with pride. She smiled back at him and he helped her with the several practice shots until she was able to pull back further than she could have ever before on her own. After a while, her arm felt like lead forcing her to stop practicing. She sat beside Thorin and rested her hand on his knee. Kili sat beside Fili and began to play with the tips of his brother's hair as he slept. "Should we take Odin back to his room?"

"I'll have Freya place him there; go ahead and run up there," Coruwen replied. Freya still had Odin cradled in her arms, but she had dozed off with the tip of her nose hovering over him protectively. Smoke escaped her nostrils and her breath was heavy. Coruwen rose with Thorin and together they walked over to Freya, and gently ran a hand against the warm scales of the dragoness. Coruwen smiled as Freya cracked open her amber eyes and slowly Coruwen saw the fire orange veins mingled with dark amber jump to life. "Hello Freya."

"Dear One, what is it you need?" Freya yawned as her jaws clenched as her great jaws shut. Thorin patted the dragoness' paw and she smiled. Coruwen motioned to Odin, who still was asleep in her arms and warmed by her scales. "Right," The dragoness stood and carried Odin in one paw, climbing clumsily out of the cavern.

"And you say you do not love her," Coruwen teased as she took her husband's hand. He scoffed making her giggle. "Thorin, she loves our son like he was one of her own. She enjoys your presence and respects you; many years ago that was all you wanted from her."

"No, many years ago I wanted her head on a pike," Thorin replied shortly, his sapphire eyes flashing darkly. Coruwen knew she could never get him to own up to the fact that he indeed liked Freya; he simply was too stubborn. All she could do was assume that he liked the dragoness. Dís and Fili joined them on their way back up to the higher levels, passing Freya as she returned to her cavern beneath the great halls. Had there not been any light in the halls, Freya would have looked like a dancing shadow with the passing flash of dulled white as she slinked back into her hall. They passed by Odin, who was being indelicately dragged into his room by Kili. Fili held back a laugh and helped his brother with his limp cousin.

"How has he been fairing?" Dís asked quietly. Coruwen shrugged, truly not knowing how her son had been fairing since Freya had taken him into her possession. She would check on him later after the halls had calmed down. Dís sighed sadly, "We need to show him that heights will be the death of him."

"He will learn," Thorin muttered and Dís shot him a small glare. Coruwen gave him a swat on the shoulder. "Fine, we'll teach him." She did not understand where this strange attitude of Thorin's was coming from. He had always been loving and caring towards all three boys. When Dís was dragged off by one of her friends for a moment, Coruwen took the chance to speak to Thorin.

"What is the matter with you?" She asked sharply. He gave her a puzzled look and she sighed. "Why are you acting so… Brash? What happened to you?" He tore his gaze from her, but her hand grabbed his shoulder faster making him focus on her. His eyes were clouded by an odd sorrow that she could not put her finger on. "You're stressed, aren't you?"

"Aye, I am," He replied. "First your health and now this damned war. Odin wants to fight, but in a way I cannot let him fight. I only want him to become a strong king one day, but no matter how hard I try I cannot seem to get that through to him."

Coruwen stroked the side of his face. "Talk to him when he surfaces again. I know you can get through to him; you love him and he loves you. He has been striving to make himself known, and he finally showed it to you… Though not in the best of ways."

"If you believe that will help him…"

"I know you are not gifted with a silver tongue, but Odin understands you. Let him listen and maybe you will come to an understanding." She felt his hand tighten around hers and she smiled. "It will help you at least with one stress, love."

"If I could only rid myself of the stress caused by this," He placed his hand over her heart, and her heart sank. Grief bit at her heart as she saw sorrow flash in her beloved's eyes. His hand slid from its place over her heart as he walked off.

"Thorin, wait a moment," Coruwen saw him halt, glancing back at her. She motioned for him to come over to her and he returned to her side, catching her dainty hands in his own. From beneath his collar, she withdrew the white star pendant she had given him and it still to this day glimmered brightly like the great star of the north. "I am always with you, no matter how far," She traced the pendant's pearlescent metal with gentle fingertips. "Always remember that I am with you, my love. All I ask is that you do not burden yourself with such troubling thoughts. I am yours, and you are mine; never forget that."

She started to walk away from him, hearing him whisper a faint line in Khuzdul that she did not know of. The words sounded heartfelt and endearing; in fact she had heard them come from him before. She did not ask what they meant, nor did she mind hearing him speak such words. He had his secrets just as she had hers.

"Why can't I move?" Odin thought. He tried to move his arm, but it refused to move. His body felt sluggish and his head throbbed. It felt like he had been hit by something or dropped… His eyes cracked open and he winced at the light of the room. He buried his face into the folds of his blankets in an attempt hide from the light. He heard a huff behind him and he flicked his gaze up to see Fenrir laying his head on a pillow, his almond eye shining happily.

"Fenrir," Odin whispered. The prince heard his voice and would have jumped had he not been inflicted with a strange pain. His voice was hoarse with his throat scratchy. Through the door, Odin heard a loud thump followed by a small bit of arguing. His door opened revealing Fili with Kili poking his head over his brother's shoulder.

"Hey, you're awake," Fili said gently. His cousin crept up near him, sitting beside him on his bed. Fili's cool hand pressed against his forehead, making him hiss as a hot pain bloomed on the left side of his head. "You're lucky you didn't damage your brain, Odin."

Odin managed a small groan as Fili removed bandages that were sticky with blood; his blood. He cleared his throat, motioning at them. "You fell after you kicked Freya, you have a few nasty bruises on your left side from landing on the ground," Kili told him. Odin narrowed his eyes, trying to sit up but his body gave out causing him to fall back into Fenrir. His hound gave a small warning growl, and Odin internally lamented the fact he couldn't move whatsoever. "Careful now, you can't move right now. Your balance won't be back for a bit; at least not until that wound on your head heals."

"Great," Odin hissed as Fili wrapped his head with new bandages. Kili smiled, patting his cousin's shoulder. He watched Kili disappear from the room leaving him with Fili, who was stroking Fenrir's head and ears. "Fili… Why do I-?"

"Sound like that?" Fili finished. "Here, this should help." Odin felt a cup rest at his lips and slowly, the water slipped down his throat helping to stop the scratchiness of his throat. "Better?"

"Yes," Odin replied, his voice still a bit hoarse, but his throat was no longer raw allowing him to speak easier. He glanced up at his cousin, who had his hair loose from their typical braids and it was starting to become a bit wild like that of a true lion only with blue eyes. He smiled up at Fili and then shut his eyes again. "How long have I been unconscious?"

"Roughly about six hours," Fili said simply, running a hand through his hair. For a good portion of his life, Odin had never seen Fili greatly concerned. He cracked open his eyes again, looking at his cousin closely. Fili had worry lines in his face, and his eyes lacking their typical glint. His father had been lacking that same glint as well. He heard the closing of a door and Fili's attention flicked back. "Thorin, is something wrong?"

"No, I just need to speak with my son," Thorin answered, and Odin mentally winced. He became anxious as Fili left the room and he was left with his father. He could see his father slowly come into his view, and he noticed that his father did not appear angered or upset. Thorin's gaze was gentle as he came to sit beside him. "How do feel?"

"Horrible," Odin muttered. He shut his eyes, waiting for his father to chew him out. He tensed up when he felt his father's hand press against his forehead. "Adad?"

"Odin, what you did earlier was foolish," Thorin scolded and Odin tensed up again at the firmness of his father's voice. One might have thought he would have gotten used to the sound of his father's voice, but in truth he had never gotten over how stern Thorin could sound without being internally upset. He cracked open one eye, looking up at his father hoping that his voice did not portray his facial features. Odin was surprised to see his father quite calm. His tone became gentle again as he ran a hand across his son's forehead. "However, I do not believe I have ever been more proud of you. You fought well."

Odin blinked in shock, not believing that the man before him was his father. There had been a few times in his life that his father had been sincere. His father had always been caring towards him, but it was not the same love that his mother or aunt gave. He attempted to sit up, and felt Thorin's hand brace his shoulder and grip his hand to pull him up.

"I have kept you hidden away for a long time, Odin. But with the War of the Ring trying to rip this world apart, I do believe that it is time for you start learning what your cousins had to learn when they were your age," Thorin told him. "You are, after all, my only child and a prince of this realm. When you are able to move around without much trouble, I will have Fili and Freya start training you again."

"Again?"

His father smirked, "You trained earlier today and were doing well until you kicked Freya on the snout. She is still rather cross with you about that."

Odin laughed nervously, "Right…"

Thorin stood, ruffling his son's hair making him playfully swat his father's arm. His father chuckled and Odin looked up at him quizzically. The sapphire eyes of his father were fond, and he had seen this look before but couldn't put his finger on it. Just as quickly as the look came, it faded, and Thorin patted his son's had before leaving. "Get some rest, little one. You'll need it."

Thorin closed the door to Odin's room and jumped when he saw Coruwen standing on the opposite side of the hallway with her hands folded behind her back. She had a playful smirk on her face as she approached him.

"Have I not told you to stop eavesdropping?" Thorin snapped. Coruwen laughed quietly and took his hand in hers. "How much of it did you hear?"

"Only the latter half," She replied. "You show love in the oddest of ways."

He smirked, glancing back at Odin's door. "He understood me; that much I know."

A/N: We start getting into the war next chapter.. Who's excited?

Big thank you(once again) to all of you readers, reviewers, and everything in between. I hope you guys are not getting bored.. In fact, we're almost done with this story if guys can believe it..

Please Review, they help motivate me!